Ask Jo Malone: How to win at Wimbledon without being called out

Jo says...

A quick search at the IP (Intellectual Property) Office has confirmed All England Lawn Tennis (Wimbledon) Ltd has registered Wimbledon as a trademark across a variety of categories, including clothing, which means you cannot use the Wimbledon name without permission.

That said, it doesn’t prevent you from making an environment inside and outside your store which celebrates the tournament. You could create t-shirts with tennis rackets on, offer strawberries and cream treats for customers and make the most of your window display to create a buzz which will drive people inside.

During the recent Chelsea Flower Show, we created the most stunning mandarin tree to promote our new fragrance. Not only did it incorporate the flower theme without the need for CFS branding, but it attracted a host of passers-by into the store and was shared across social media. The response was incredible.

A quick win during Wimbledon is to extend your opening hours. It’s such a busy time and the village is busy day and night, so capitalise on this. You could even show live coverage of the evening matches.

Just remember people spend a lot of money to protect their brand and this needs to be respected.

...and Jo asks

Nigel Moss, merchandising and licensing director at McLaren, says:

“A registration of a city, town or village name in this manner is unusual but I assume that the trademark authorities considered Wimbledon to be synonymous with All England’s prestigious tennis event.

“Even if it was not registered as trademark, the application of Wimbledon to sportswear products might be considered as an implicit association with the world-renowned tournament, which would raise not only legal, but moral issues with All England.

“Consequently, I would strongly advocate a discussion with All England to determine whether there are any mutually beneficial trading opportunities, such as a licence, whereby you could utilise the Wimbledon trademark in return for paying royalties to All England.

“There may be very good reasons why this may not work for All England such as an existing relationship with a clothing sponsor or licensee.

“In terms of tips on taking advantage of the surge of footfall to Wimbledon, the obvious ideas would be topical visual merchandising, such as a compelling tennis theme particularly in your shop windows, promoting your store in official literature and offering incentives.”