Brand Protection
Success in both domestic and European competitions has ensured that the Ipswich Town Football Club brand is known and admired around the world, with variations of the club’s crest identity instantly recognisable. This success and wider appeal has unfortunately made Ipswich Town FC a target for counterfeiters. Counterfeiters look to exploit the loyalty of our fans, by producing, distributing and selling unofficial merchandise. This abuse of the intellectual property of the club offers no investment and damages the excellent reputation of the clubs official branded merchandise range.
Ipswich Town FC have invested in protecting our brand by registering our club crest and other ITFC intellectual property (“IP”) as trademarks.
The Brand Protection team at Ipswich Town FC work tirelessly to identify abuses of these protected intellectual properties, our supporters and official partners from those who wish to exploit ITFC.
COUNTERFEIT PRODUCTS
Counterfeit products have absolutely no association with Ipswich Town FC, are generally of poor quality, and could easily become faulty or even cause injury, having undergone little or no quality control checks at all. We would therefore strongly suggest our fans only purchase official club products to avoid disappointment.
The vast array of counterfeit products seized and reported in recent times have included ITFC branded replica kit, retro shirts, clothing, scarves, pin badges, keyrings, mobile phone covers, footwear, sports accessories and many more products.
FALSE AFFILIATIONS WITH ITFC
Ipswich Town FC partner with many licensees and manufacturers globally to extend our product range, ensuring that supporters can take advantage of these official partnerships to obtain the best quality branded merchandise, in all corners of the world. Our official partners and licensees have invested within the club and are therefore granted exclusive rights to have their official partnership.
Some organisations however look to mislead supporters into believing they are in partnership with ITFC, to profit, by using the club’s intellectual property. These organisations have not invested in ITFC, nor show any interest in doing so. They dilute the value of ITFC to existing and potential new partners, negatively affecting progression of the club. ITFC therefore take these false affiliations very seriously and will always look to pursue all legal remedies in protecting our official partnerships.
WHAT DO WE DO?
Ipswich Town FC are committed to working with UK Trading Standards, HM Revenue & Customs, Back Four Brand Protection – a leading UK football IP protection agency, and law enforcement authorities around the world to prosecute those who manufacture, distribute and sell counterfeit ITFC branded products.
If you have suspicions or further information regarding counterfeiting of Ipswich Town FC products, please contact the Brand Protection team at the club on the contact details below. All communication will be treated in the strictest confidence.
HOW CAN YOU HELP US?
We would encourage you to purchase official Club merchandise to avoid disappointment and ensure the products you are purchasing have passed all relevant safety tests.
We rely heavily upon information supplied to us from our fans and others with a common interest in branded merchandise to help put an end to this illegal activity. Should you have any information or suspect illegal activity, please do not hesitate to contact us. All information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence.
COPYRIGHT
All content included on this website including but not limited to website design, text, graphics, audio clips, visual clips, logos, button icons and the selection and arrangement thereof is the property of Ipswich Town Football Club Limited or its content suppliers and is protected by UK and International copyright laws.
All software used on this website is the property of Ipswich Town Football Club Limited and is protected by UK and International copyright laws ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. Any other use of materials on this website including but not limited to the reproduction for purposes other than those noted above, modification, distribution, transmission and broadcasting, republication, downloading or uploading without prior written permission of Ipswich Town Football Club is strictly prohibited.
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Ipswich Town Football Club will, in appropriate circumstances, terminate the accounts of users who infringe the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that your work has been used or copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please contact us on the details below with a notice ("Notice") containing the following elements:
- a physical or electronic signature of the person authorised to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest that is alleged to have been infringed a description of the copyrighted work or works that you claim have been infringed and which you request to be removed from the site;
- a description of the location of the material that you claim is being infringed information sufficient to permit Ipswich Town Football Club to contact you, such as your physical address, telephone number and e-mail address;
- a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material identified in your Notice in the manner complained of is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
- a statement by you that the information in your Notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorised to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
TRADEMARKS
Ipswich Town Football Club Limited and all page headers, custom graphics and button icons are service marks, trademarks, and/or trade dress of Ipswich Town Football Club Limited. Other trademarks, product names and company names or logos cited herein are the property of their respective owners including the Club ("Third Party Trademarks"). You are not permitted to use the Ipswich Town Football Club Trademarks or Third Party Trademarks without prior written consent of Ipswich Town Football Club Limited or such third parties that may own the Trademarks.
We will actively pursue and individuals/company that attempts to profit from unauthorised use of any of our intellectual property without exception.
CONTACT
If you wish to contact the Brand Protection team at Ipswich Town FC, for further information on intellectual property matters or to notify us of any claims of copyright infringement, please use the following contact details:
Paul Macro
Head of Retail Operations
Ipswich Town Football Club
Portman Road
IP1 2DA
email: paul.macro@itfc.co.uk