Experts from Danilo, Sambro, Larkshead, M&Co and CPLG have been named as the judging panel for this year’s License This! competition.
Following the introduction of two awards to mark the competition’s 10 anniversary, two panels of judges will be responsible for whittling down the shortlist on September 21.
The panels will pick two worthy winners at the show in October.
The judging panels will star:
Chair: Kelvyn Gardner – LIMA UK
Cross category judge: Christine Schiavone – Wynne Jones
Character and Animation judges:
Dan Grant – Danilo Promotions
Nikki Samuels – Sambro
Clare Piggott – Larkshead Media
Julia Redman – M&Co
Steve Manners – CPLG
Brand and Design judges:
Stuart Cox – I Like Birds
Will Stewart – The Point 1888
Vicki Thomas – Vicki Thomas Associates
Sarah Lawrence – This is Iris
Jehane Boden Spiers – Jehane Ltd
Chirstina Schiavone, senior trainee patent attorney at Wynne Jones, said: “We are thrilled to sponsor the License This! competition at BLE. All brands have intellectual property, regardless of size, and considering how to protect your IP from the very start is so important.
‘wynne Jones thrives on supporting entrepreurship and we are looking forward to bing a part of this year’s judging process and offering both of this year’s License This! winners valuable IP advice and support as they go forward with their licensing ventures into 2019.”
Sarah Lawrence of This is Iris, added: “License This! is a wonderful opportunity for artists and designers to share their work and be seen by potential partners. It has helped kickstart many fantastic programmes over the years and I am sure that we will see a great many more talented creative launch their licensing careers through this platform.
“As judges, we are looking for originality, a stand out collection, with the potential to work across several product categories.”
Apllicants can enter this year’s competition for free online here.
Anna Knight, BLE brand director, said: “License This! is a proven propeller for entrepreneurs to launch themselves into the licensing industry and a valuable tool to bring fresh, exciting talent into the licensing industry.
“BLE would like to say a huge thank you to all of this year’s judges – we ar really excited about the competition’s new format and seeing all of the entrants on judging day next month.”