Notts County Football Club

Brand protection

Protecting our brand

We're proud to have a loyal and passionate fanbase who wear the Notts badge with pride. Unfortunately, however, this loyalty is sometimes exploited by individuals and businesses who, with no authorisation, use the Notts County name and image to promote their own products and services.

Following the club’s recent success, this is becoming an increasingly important issue for us to tackle in order to protect our brand and commercial revenues.

What is brand protection?

When individuals or companies produce and sell Notts County-branded goods without our authorisation, they are using and infringing our intellectual property rights.

We have invested in and registered a range of intellectual property rights (eg. logos and wordmarks) in order to retain control over the quality of merchandise and services we're associated with.

Our brand protection work focuses on stopping individuals and companies from using these intellectual property rights unofficially, especially when their goal is to profit without contributing to the club’s success or to fans’ enjoyment.

Why protect the brand?

Unofficial products are often of poor quality and have been manufactured in circumstances we have no sight of. This means that for fans who purchase these products there may be disappointment, safety concerns and limited consumer rights.

In addition, the money made through the sale of official merchandise goes into making the club better for all, from the fans who enjoy our matchday experience to the partners we're proud to support.

For these reasons, we ask that fans only purchase official club products. Click here to visit our online store.

What if you want to produce a product that uses our intellectual property?

All enquiries concerning the use of club trademarks should be directed to brandprotection@nottscountyfc.co.uk.

If we haven't agreed to a relationship with you, you should consider that you do not have permission to produce or sell merchandise that bears these marks. This includes the production of samples to show your product, manufacturing or service capabilities.

Who do we work with?

To protect our intellectual property rights, we regularly work with Trading Standards, the police and Border Force.

In order to deter and reduce the issue of counterfeit product, we also work with our lawyers and the brand protection agency Back Four Limited, who police the physical and online marketplace for infringing club product and initiate action.

How can you help?

We encourage fans to report any instances of counterfeiting or brand abuse by emailing brandprotection@nottscountyfc.co.uk.

We're grateful for your support and any information provided. All information will be treated with the strictest confidence and only shared with trusted law enforcement colleagues.