Licensing News from CES
Licensing was in evidence at last week’s International CES in Las Vegas. A brief sampling:
*Curtis International affiliate Display-Vu re-launched RCA TVs under a new agreement with licensor Technicolor. The pact represents an expansion of Curtis’ agreement for the RCA brand in Canada and replaces Technicolor’s previous licensee Activeon. Display-Vu also will sell mobile devices and major appliances under the RCA banner and will field additional consumer electronics products with Technicolor’s ProScan brand.
The new RCA TVs included 43-inch ($400) and 55-inch ($500) curved ($999) and standard ($500) ultra-high definition (UHD) LCD TVs. Also being introduced are a 4.3-inch portable TV ($80) and 22-inch TV/DVD combo ($180). Curtis also has two tablet PCs, a microwave, full-size retro refrigerator and 18-bottle wine cooler under the RCA brand.
*Westinghouse licensee Tongfang Global, which signed a 7-year licensing deal in 2014, unveiled four UHD TVs built around Amazon’s Fire TV platform. The sets also contain Amazon’s Alexa voice technology built into the remotes.
*Rights to the Sharp brand in the U.S. remain in dispute, according to the Wall Street Journal. Foxconn Technology Group took over Sharp Corp. last year with a goal of leveraging the well-known brand for TVs. It bought out the licensee in Europe and its executives said at the time they planned to acquire the U.S. rights from licensee Hisense.
Hisense, which has a license for the Sharp brand through 2020, feels “compelled to defend our licensing agreement,” Hisense General Manager Lan Lin told the Wall Street Journal. Indeed, Hisense introduced 21 Sharp TVs at CES last week, including 75-inch ($8000) and 70-inch ($6000) LCD TV sets.
*On the accessories side, Case-Mate is returning to licensing, licensing the Allure magazine brand for a “selfie case” that will launch sales in March at $70. The agreement with Allure represents a move back into licensing for Case-Mate, which previously introduced Marvel character-based cellphone cases in 2012.
*Constellation Brands’ Corona label made its first step into electronics via a licensing agreement with CJ Global. CJ Global will field a 12-SKU line that is expected to ship this fall ranging from portable chargers ($14.99) and headphones ($19) to Bluetooth speakers ($69) and a cooler with built-in Bluetooth speaker ($99). The agreement, brokered by the Joester Loria Group, also is CJ Global’s first licensed product, expanding a line that has largely been sold under its own Mental Beats and CJTech brands.
*In lighting, Jasco licenses the Energizer brand for direct wire, battery operated and plug-in LED-based lights. At CES, Jasco carved out a section of its booth for the new Energizer products. Energizer Holdings is represented by Beanstalk.