Licensed merchandise is the making and selling of items bearing a brand, a character or a famous person’s name by a company that does not own them, under a contract that allows it in return for royalties. It is different from the promotional gadgets a company makes with its own logo: there is no licence there, because the brand is its own.
Merchandising and licensing: the same thing?
Almost. In Italy a merchandising contract is one by which the owner of a distinctive sign grants another business the right to use it; it has no specific rules in the civil code and is an atypical but very common contract (Diritto.it, in Italian). “Licensing” is the broader term used in the industry; “merchandise” usually means the items that come out of it: T-shirts, toys, mugs, stationery.
The three kinds of merchandising
- Brand merchandising: a well-known brand leaves its sector, like a car or a magazine on a clothing line.
- Character merchandising: fictional characters created by authors and illustrators, from cartoons to comics.
- Personality merchandising: the name and image of famous people from sport or entertainment.
This is the distinction used in Italian legal writing (Diritto.it) and it matters because it changes who holds the rights: the brand owner, the author or publisher of the character, the person or their representative. We cover sport in sports licensing and characters in character and anime licensing.
Where it sells
According to Licensing International’s annual study, in 2025 68% of licensed product sales worldwide went through physical shops and 32% online; 16% of online sales came through social media. Apparel is the largest product category (License Global). Shops are still decisive, so buyers and retail calendars belong in the plan from the start.
Official or not
A product that uses someone else’s trademark or character without a license can be stopped: Italy’s Industrial Property Code lets a court prohibit its manufacture and sale and order its withdrawal from the market (Art. 124 of the Code, in Italian). For a company the safe route is a license: it gives access to official artwork and, when the contract provides for it, to the official-product label. In doubtful cases, ask a lawyer.
Where to start
If you are looking for a property for a merchandise line, start from how to choose a property; if the brand is yours, from how to license your brand. For a real project, write to us from the licensing service page.
