Future group arm working on IPR plank

KOLKATA: Future Brands, which already has consultancy, partnerships and insights & research verticals, is now looking at creating a vertical out of licensing and franchiseeing, which is a part of their IPR business. A subsidiary of Future Group’s Pantaloon Retail (India), Future Brands’ new vertical could make it perhaps the only company with a 360 degree view on brands and branded businesses.

“We are working on this project for the next fiscal,” said Future Brands vice-president Anand Pandey. “We are in the process of making a vertical out of it, taking into account issues like licensing of brands as intellectual properties, franchiseeing, legal framework etc. We want to look at the opportunities within the brand and license it out to a third party with synergies with the core brand values,” he said.

Future Brands has already started to expand its private label brands outside the Future Group retail formats through the licensing route with John Miller, which has been licensed to Bangalore-based Indus League. “In future, we may look at brands going out of our retail formats in a newer way. For instance, it could be licensing out John Miller as a property to some one who helps create a men’s grooming range and get royalties from them. This way, we might be the only group with such a comprehensive view on the brands and branding business,” said Mr Pandey.