A family-owned sporting-goods brand with fifty years of operating history and a live licensing conversation with a professional league, two federal registrations that had drifted from actual use, and no clean chain of title through three generations. We rebuilt the portfolio, aligned the specimens, and executed the license.
Two federal trademark registrations were on the books. Neither specimen matched current product packaging. The registrations covered classes the brand no longer used and did not cover classes the brand actually sold into.
Chain of title ran through three generations without a formal assignment on record. The current operating entity had never filed a Section 8 declaration. The oldest registration was in a five-year vulnerability window for cancellation on non-use grounds.
We ran a full portfolio audit. We aligned the specimens, filed the correct Section 8 declarations, corrected the classes to match actual use, and filed new applications in the classes the license would require. We recorded assignment documents through three generations to establish clean chain of title with the USPTO.
We negotiated the league license against the corrected portfolio, structured the royalty and minimum-guarantee terms with a step-up tied to defined milestones, and added a quality-control provision that gave the brand meaningful oversight without creating a licensee-side burden.
We coordinated with the family's succession counsel so the operating entity, the trust that held the IP, and the license all pointed at the same generation-three successor.
"Fifty years of operating history did not protect us. Fifty years of correctly filed paper would have. Brandon got us there."
— Owner, Family Sporting-Goods Brand
Trademark portfolios built across multiple generations accumulate small drifts that nobody notices until a major deal forces a close look. A specimen that no longer matches current packaging, a class that no longer reflects what the brand sells, an assignment that was never formally recorded, each one is invisible until due diligence for a license, a sale, or a dispute puts a spotlight on it.
The five-year non-use vulnerability window is not a technicality. It is a real cancellation risk that sits quietly until someone with a reason to challenge the mark goes looking, and a league license is exactly the kind of deal that draws that scrutiny.
We run USPTO portfolio audits ahead of major licensing, sale, or succession events, and we align the family's operating entity, trust, and license structure so the brand's paper matches its actual business.
Most engagements are flat fee, quoted before the work begins — and most matters resolve without litigation. Start with a free consultation.