You asked how the University of Connecticut licenses its name and logo for use on products. Specifically, you wanted to know the UConn officials responsible for product licensing and what benefit UConn and the state derive from licensing agreements.

UConn's Licensing and Athletic Traditions Office, headed by associate director of athletics Tim Tolokan, is responsible for UConn's licensing program. All net royalties the university receives from the products it licenses (approximately $ 7 million since 1986) are used for scholarships.

Tolokan's licensing office works through an agent, Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), to approve or disapprove potential licensees and their specific products and decide whether to renew their licenses. It also approves designs that licensees can use on their products. The office signed off on more than 2,500 designs in 2005.

In order to make products carrying the UConn name or logo, a manufacturer must sign a licensing agreement with CLC. CLC has negotiated and currently oversees more than 300 such agreements for UConn. The manufacturer must provide acceptable levels of liability insurance, agree to UConn's licensing code of conduct, and participate in the national database of factory locations producing goods bearing a UConn (and other colleges') logo.

UConn's current contract with CLC runs through September 2007. The contract calls for the parties, beginning July 1, 2006, to negotiate a new agreement.

CLC performs contract management and oversight. These functions include registering various terms (UCONN, “Connecticut Huskies”) and logos with the U. S. Patent and Trademark offices and monitoring retailers to ensure that counterfeit products are removed from the market.

UConn receives royalties through CLC from its licensees (not from retailers) based on the wholesale value of licensed products. The royalty is 8% on most products. UConn's contract calls for CLC to pay the university 75% of the first $ 250,000 of gross royalties CLC collects each year, 80% of the gross royalties between $ 250,001 and $ 500,000, and 85% of gross royalties over $ 500,000. It generally receives $ 400,000 to $ 800,000 a year. It has received over $ 7 million since it first licensed its name in 1986.

All net royalties it receives are used for scholarships. In addition to the money, UConn's Athletic Department says it and the state have received “huge levels” of good will, visibility, and name recognition regionally and nationally.

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