(New York, NY) April 14, 2011 – The International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) today announced a slate of 69 nominees from around the world for the annual LIMA International Licensing Excellence Awards. The awards, which recognize outstanding creativity and performance in trademark licensing, will be announced at LIMA’s Opening Night Awards Ceremony on June 14 during Licensing International Expo 2011 in Las Vegas.

Licensing Excellence Awards will be presented to licensors and licensees in the following seven categories:

  * Art or Design
  * Character or Toy
  * Corporate
  * Film, Television, Celebrity or Entertainment
  * Sports or Sports-themed Entertainment
  * Licensed Promotion
  * Retailer of the Year

In addition, the Overall Best Licensed Program of the Year award will be presented. The finalists below were chosen by the LIMA Awards Committee from among the category-specific nominees.

Property & Brand Owner/Licensing Agent:

  * Hello Kitty, Sanrio, Inc.
  * JCB, JC Bamford Excavators Ltd./JCB Consumer Products
  * Justin Bieber, Bravado International Group
  * PGA Tour, PGA Tour, Inc.
  * The Stanley Works, The Beanstalk Group 
  * Toy Story 3, The Walt Disney Company
  * Victoria and Albert Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum/V&A Enterprises

“This year’s slate of candidates for the International Licensing Excellence Awards is our most geographically diverse to date, with nominees from Australia, Asia, Europe, and North and South America,” said Charles Riotto, President of LIMA. “Additionally, the variety of industries represented continues to grow, as more and more companies turn to strategic licensing as a brand builder and revenue driver.”

Nominations were solicited from the licensing industry worldwide and LIMA members will vote for their favorites by May 13. For a complete list of the nominees in each award category as well as voting procedures, please click on the following link:
http://www.licensing.org/about/awards/2011-licensing-awards-nominees/

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