Guide to Selling Branded Goods and Apparel

Guide to Selling Branded Goods and Apparel

Boston University allows BU entities the opportunity to sell goods and apparel that include the University’s name, logos, symbols, and/or trademarks. To protect the name and image of the University and to ensure that the BU name is only used on high quality merchandise, the Trademark Licensing Office has chosen a carefully selected set of vendors who are able to embellish branded merchandise and apparel. These vendors have agreed to follow all University brand standards and to produce products in healthy and safe facilities that provide treat their workers with respect and dignity.

Royalties

BU licensed vendors are required to pay a royalty fee for every item they produce that bears the BU name or any of the University’s marks or logos. While the University waives these royalty payments for items produced as giveaways, uniforms, or for internal use, items produced for sale to individuals are always royalty bearing.

The University collects royalties from licensed vendors based on the price that the vendor charges its customer. For items sold directly to individuals, this would be the sale price minus any taxes or shipping fees. For items sold to a BU entity for resale, it would be the price of the item to the BU entity. All royalties are reported and paid by the licensed vendor, so no additional royalties are collected on any markup made by the BU entity.

Allowed Vendors

Boston University requires any vendor that manufactures or embellishes an item with the University name, logo, or symbol, to have a trademark license with the University. Our office works hard to maintain a robust list of licensed vendors who can produce a wide array of promotional products and/or apparel. Not all vendors have the ability or are licensed to produce items to be sold. For a list of all licensed vendors authorized to produce BU branded royalty bearing products, see our current list of vendors allowed to produce goods to be sold for internal BU groups.

When choosing a vendor, consider vendors and products that are…

Sustainable

Sustanability is a core goal of Boston University’s strategic Plan. When choosing a vendor and product, consider those that best align with BU’s goals as outlined in the BU Sustainable Purchasing Look for companies who produce items certified by organizations such as GreenSeal or Fair Trade, or who are B-Corp Certified or meet the Global Organic Textile Standard.

 

Diverse

BU also cares deeply about supplier diversity. To support this initiative, the Trademark Licensing Office has included a search function to our website that will allow you to sort licensed vendors by various categories that are also aligned with the BU Campus Shop’s Prestige Pursuits program, including women or minority owned, veteran owned, as well as spotlighting companies that produce products that are eco-friendly, are locally made, or that do good by giving back to the community.

 

Vendor Lists for Specific Groups

 

If you are a buyer for certain campus organizations, you may have a specific list of vendors that are preferred or required for you to choose from. These groups include…

  • Club Sports:Club Sport organizations should consult the Club Sports Handbook. Appendix B of the Handbook contains a list of vendors approved for Club Sports teams. If you have any questions, please contact your Club Sport Advisor.
  • Athletics:Athletic teams must order certain items from our contracted sideline provider, Under Armour, or their affiliate. Contact the Athletics Communications team for information about authorized vendors for all other products.

Product Submission and Approval

As with royalty waived items, approval depends on the entity that you belong to and the specific logo or mark that you are using. Goods and apparel produced for sale to individuals must include the name of the BU entity selling the item alongside any BU marks.

 

Product Submission and Approval

Approval depends on the entity that you belong to and the specific logo or mark that you are using.

  • University Plate or BU Icon and Sub-Brand Logo – Contact the BU Marketing & Communications Department for brand approval through their brand guidelines web form. For fastest approval when using the University Plate or Sub-brand, always submit your artwork for MarCom review prior to sending the artwork to your vendor.
  • School or College – Submit your design and product to your Communications office for brand approval.
  • Club Sports – Submit your product and design to your Club Sports Advisor for approval.
  • Student Organizations – Submit your product and design to your Advisor for approval.
  • Athletics – Submit your product and design to Athletics Communications for approval.

Once approved by the organization, you will be able to submit your design to your vendor. At that time, you vendor will upload the design to our licensing platform for a final trademark approval. If we have any remaining questions about the design or product, we will reach out directly to you. Once we approve the design, the product is ready to go into production.