What This Means to a Scouting Volunteer or Parent Local Councils | Parents & Volunteers | Council Suppliers | Become a Local Council Supplier | Councils & Units FAQ For some, this will be a significant change in the way products, like T-shirts or patches, are purchased. In the past, you may have simply given a BSA trademark to a third party for reproduction, and while this third party did not have authorization to reproduce the trademark on a T-shirt or patch, the third party may have created a product anyway. The National Council’s clarification should help you to understand that, in the future, you should use only BSA Official Licensees to produce products bearing BSA trademarks. Official Licensees are contractually bound to and regularly monitored by the BSA to ensure that they adhere to product quality standards, maintain levels of insurance necessary to protect the end user in the case of product failure, and abide by a code of conduct that compels them, among other things, to provide acceptable working conditions for those producing products bearing BSA trademarks. Products that do not bear the Officially Licensed Product seal are not produced to BSA standards, and therefore are not authorized by the Boy Scouts of America. In addition, members and our organization as a whole benefit because: Scouting values are upheld. Customers can be assured that a program exists to prevent the use of BSA marks or words and phrases in obscene, pornographic, or other ways inconsistent with the principles of the BSA. Product confidence is increased. Products produced under BSA license undergo a stringent review process to uphold quality standards. Official BSA licensees are subject to regular review of their manufacturing processes and comply with rigid product liability and safety requirements. More products and services can be offered. Controlled licensing gives BSA an opportunity to broaden our range of products and services offered to BSA members and alumni while maintaining quality and relevance. BSA trademarked products are increasingly available. A variety of retail stores can offer Officially Licensed Products, making accessibility to these quality items easier than ever before. Your Support in Protecting BSA Trademarks Is Appreciated Protecting BSA brands and creating stronger controls and programs for licensing BSA proprietary marks, words, and phrases will yield positive results for our members, local councils, and the National Council. Many local councils have already established unit and volunteer procedures to ensure compliance with requirements for the use of BSA trademarks. Please check with your local council as to its written procedures prior to producing a T-shirt, patch, or other product bearing a BSA trademark. In addition, please support this effort to protect BSA trademarks by buying, and encouraging others to buy, only Official Boy Scouts of America products purchased from BSA Supply or BSA Officially Licensed Suppliers. Anyone seeking to use any marks, words, or phrases, which may reasonably be related to BSA and its programs should contact the BSA Legal Department at 972-580-2000 in advance of such use. Request a Licensing Application form online here. For questions about licensing, e-mail licensing@netbsa.org or call 800-323-0732. back to top