The MOD therefore operates an Official Licensing Programme, through which it permits the sale under license of a range of commercial products bearing MOD badges and logos. Any third party wishing to apply for a licence to use MOD insignia on commercial products should read the appropriate MOD guidance documents: MOD Crown Copyright Licensing Information and Armed Forces Officially Licensed Products Guide.
Please note that:
No third party should trade products or services using MOD insignia until a licence has been fully agreed and signed by Defence Intellectual Property Rights (DIPR).
There is no guarantee that an application for use of MOD insignia will be accepted.
The licensing process can take up to six months.
The MOD is prepared to take legal action against anyone who uses its intellectual property without a licence, in contravention of its legal rights.
OFFICIALLY LICENCED PRODUCTS that are subject to registered and unregistered trademarks of the Secretary of State for Defence.
Products that bare any registered or unregistered trade mark of the MOD are subject to this licencing and they are identified by the wording OFFICIAL LICENCED PRODUCT with the description.
Registered and unregistered trade marks of the MOD can be found by searching for
MOD LICENCING.
As a MOD Licence holder we guarantee that your product is of the highest quality and any badges or insignia are used under the terms and conditions of our licence.
Images shown online are of low resolution and do not represent the final quality of images used. Our images are supplied where necessary by the MOD.
If your supplier is unable to display a hologram image on their products or provide a DIPR number, then the chances are that they are not licenced and the goods that you are buying are possibly uninsured and unauthorised. The hologram looks like this;
We are the holders of a Tri-service licence meaning that we can supply products that have insignia of the Royal Navy, Royal air force, Army as well as the Royal Marines, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, WRNS, & RAF Display teams.
There are many outlets out there, either on Facebook or eBay and within their own sites and many of them are not licensed by MOD. Some even hide under the guise of "WE GIVE TO CHARITY' to secure your custom and as such continue to trade in unlicensed and what is counterfeit goods.
The Defence Intellectual Property Rights team (DIPR) actively monitors internet marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon and Alibaba for counterfeit veterans’ badges and military medals on a regular basis. Additionally, any complaints received from the public are followed up as a priority and the relevant action is taken. Local authority Trading Standards teams can help protect the integrity of the badge by liaising directly with the DIPR and taking local enforcement action where complaints are received or where officers see the badges for sale.
If you see veterans’ badges or military medals for sale you believe may be counterfeit, or require further information on the process of civil and criminal enforcement regarding this or any other MOD intellectual property issue, please contact DIPR
Many of you will not know the ins and outs of licensing and I guess many will not care too much. Did you know however that to secure a licence and become a legitimate outlet, we have to comply with MOD guide - lines and reach a high standard of production of their copyrighted designs on all of our products. not to mention a very heavy financial outlay.
Not only that but we have to give 10% of our NET SALES (not profit) to MOD who then send that money on to the Single Services Welfare Charity So by purchasing from licenced outlets you are getting vetted and high quality goods, as well as helping us to help charities associated to MOD. Those that benefit from this charity input include veterans of all services and serving men and women of the armed forces.
We have to work closely with MOD and supply them with samples of our goods for each product that we make for you.
COST OF A LICENCE
10% NET SALES to MOD each year.
£200 per Licence per service.
Insurance - The MOD must be a named party to the insurance and must have public liability cover of at least 10 million, this costs us £800 pa No licence is issued unless you prove you have this