In a major step forward, the Black Lives Matter Movement has been granted a trademark, with founder Saphia Maxamed saying that it is a “huge development”.
The trademark covers areas including clothing, fragrances, statues, figurines, plaques and works of art, as well as retail services relating to fragrancing preparations.
“As licensing professionals, we know how important a trademark is; it is the very existence of our industry,” commented Saphia Maxamed, md of London Entertainment Inc and founder of BLM Licensing. “This is a huge development for our movement. It gives us credibility and legitimacy of our licensing programme.
“You may recall all the controversy and the global outrage when many attempts were made to secure the trademarks for commercial purposes from outside the black community. For us, we were unstoppable anyway; we knew our strategy was authentic and all the intentions of our movement were set purely for the purpose of supporting and empowering the black community and being part of the change.
“Systematic change is not an overnight or two quarters job, hence we set up as a collective to drive meaningful change with longevity in mind. Having the trademark is a milestone that will help our partners and retailers to be part of the change in a much more meaningful way, but also with the right standards set by the committee.”
In terms of licensing, Fashion UK has built an apparel range, while the Movement is also working with tonies. It is keen to collaborate with other brands whose mission is to be part of the Movement and be the change, added Saphia.
“We want to see a great activation in major stores. Our focus now is collaborations with retailers. We have a very strong style guide and cool samples that we launched at BLE 2021 and have been shared with retailers who have been keen to work with us, so it is just a matter of time before our retail launch,” she concluded.
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