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Two sides of every License
Licensors Brands

Licensors run the program in-house. A team of one, with agents on the routine work. See how

ooop it wants to sell Basketballs on ooopit.com with the UTAH-0001 mark

Licenses built from channels, categories, territories and marks. More of the revenue. Agents doing the work.

Not a bundle of logos with a royalty rate. Each licensor keeps its own rule book and brand kit, and one product submission can carry several Licenses.

Get started See how a License is built

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Sportsmarks review agentLicensor side

Product submission · against the University of Utah rule book and brand kit

  1. License ooop it holds a License in force
  2. Category Basketballs allowed under Sporting Goods
  3. Channel Shopify · ooopit.com, verified storefront
  4. Mark UTAH-0001 found on the mockup, as declared
Soft approved · the licensor can object within the window

Soft approval is provisional, and only for products: the product is approved unless the licensor objects. A License is never soft-approved.

Set the rules once. The agent reviews every application and every submission.

The review queue, the back-and-forth, and sending the program to an outside agency are where the time and the money go. The rule book takes the routine cases. Your team handles the exceptions.

You write the rules and add the marks. After that, every License application and every product submission is checked against them. On a product, the image check only supplies facts, such as which marks appear. It never makes the call. A match below the confidence you set goes to review, and nothing is auto-approved when the check can't run.

  1. 01

    Write your rule book

    Start from a template. Set categories, channels, and territories: what is granted, what waits for a person, and what is blocked. Carve out single products, refuse to share a product with a rival, and list the documents a brand must have on file. For a License application that passes every rule, you choose whether it is issued on the spot or reviewed by you.

  2. 02

    Add your marks

    Logos, logo groups, phrases, and taglines go in the brand kit, each with its own code. You say which are open to applicants. Every submission is checked against those marks.

  3. 03

    The rules decide

    A License application and a product submission are both checked automatically, and the result cites the rules it applied. What you marked for review comes to a person. So does a product when the image check can't run.

What the check can return

  • Applications and productsHard approve

    It fits the rules, so it is approved now. A passing License application is issued, and the brand signs it. A product that passes is approved. There is no queue.

  • Products onlySoft approve

    The product is approved now, unless you object within the window. It is provisional. A License is signed, not presumed, so an application is never soft-approved.

  • Applications and productsDeny

    It breaks a rule, and the reason is cited. A blocked rule is final. On a product, a soft deny is a denial the brand may appeal once.

If you set a class, or every application, to review, that case waits for a person. Those are the exceptions. The brand signs each License, and you can still object to a soft approval.

The paperwork and the money run too

  • Documents on file

    Insurance certificate, W-9, code of conduct, factory disclosure: whichever your rule book requires is checked on every application. If one is missing, the application is denied and the brand is told which one.

  • Fees and statements

    Application fees, annual fees, advances and minimum guarantees are set in the rule book. Royalty statements are issued when a brand attests its month, collected by bank debit through Stripe, and paid out to your account.

  • Expiry and renewals

    Licenses expire on their end date without anyone tracking it. Licenses ending within 30 days show up as a next step, so you can offer a renewal.

Before

Each application and each product waits on a person. Marks are checked by hand, and the program goes back and forth, or out to an agency.

After

The rule book answers the cases you already decided. Your team sees the exceptions, and the soft approvals it may want to object to.

A comparison of the work, not a measured saving.

Built around three things
  1. 01Flexible by designChannels, categories, territories and any mark, composed into each License. A rule book and a brand kit per licensor.
  2. 02More of the revenueWhat fits the rules is approved now, so products reach market sooner. Royalties come from real sales, and noncompliance is flagged.
  3. 03Agents do the work111 MCP tools run submissions, decisions and royalty reports. People sign, attest and approve.

Running a licensing program? See the licensor side

Built from parts,
not bundles.

111
MCP tools, the same actions as the app and the REST API
5
decision outcomes, from auto approve to blocked
1
product submission for every licensor on the product

A License isn't a pile of logos with a royalty rate.

On Sportsmarks a License is built from what a brand may actually do: the channels it sells through, the categories it makes, the territories it sells in, and the exact marks it uses.

Let your brand sell T-shirts and headwear on Shopify and Amazon in the United States with the primary logo and “Go Rivers!”

  • Any mark

    Single logos, logo groups, phrases and taglines, each with its own royalty rate.

  • Any scope

    Channels like Shopify, Amazon and wholesale; product categories; territories.

  • Issued when it fits

    If the licensor lets it, the rule book issues the License the moment a brand's request fits. A request that breaks a rule is denied with the rule cited. The rest goes to the licensor.

  • Amend and renew

    Add marks, channels or territories, negotiate rates, move the end date.

License · River State University → your brand
Channels
ShopifyAmazonWholesale
Categories
Apparel › T-shirtsHeadwearDrinkware
Marks
RSU-0001 · Primary logoRSU-0007 · MascotRSU-0031 · “Go Rivers!”
Territory
United States
Rates resolve per mark; negotiated overrides live on the License.Issue

One product, several licensors, one submission.

A co-branded or rivalry product shouldn't need a separate filing for every licensor. Submit it once with every mark on it; Sportsmarks splits it into one claim per licensor and checks each against that licensor's License and rule book.

  • Approved only when every licensor approves; any denial blocks it.
  • Missing a License? It's drafted as a bundled application in the same step.
  • Quote the stacked royalty across licensors before you submit.
  • New sizes keep the approval; a new colorway is reviewed beside the approved original.
One submission · Rivalry Week Tee
Rivalry Week Tee
3 marks declared · 6 SKUs from Shopify
  • River State University
    RSU-0001, RSU-0031 · its own License and rule book
    Approved
  • Coastal State
    CSU-0004 · its own License and rule book
    Approved

Approved only when every licensor approves. A missing License is drafted as a bundled application.

Every licensor gets a brand kit. Public or private, your call.

Logos and marks with their variants, the phrases and taglines you license, your colors with hex and Pantone values, and your usage guidelines, all in one place.

  • Public: anyone can see your marks, phrases, colors and guidelines on a page and over a public API, no sign-in needed.
  • Private: the kit stays behind sign-in.
  • Either way, artwork files download only for brands whose License covers the mark.
Public kits on Sportsmarks
Brand kit · River State University
VisibilityPublicPrivate
RSU-0001
RSU-0007
RSU-0012
“Go Rivers!”“Row Together”
  • River Navy#0B2545primary
  • Gold#F2A900secondary
  • Slate#5B6770neutral
Revenue

More of the revenue, for licensors and the brands they license.

Nothing here is a new fee. Products that fit the rules don't sit in a queue, routine licensees don't each need staff time, and royalties are computed from sales Shopify and Amazon already recorded instead of from a spreadsheet.

  • Products that fit the rules reach market sooner
  • More licensees without more review staff
  • Royalties from the sales that actually happened
  • Unlicensed and noncompliant sales get caught
Get started

Where the extra revenue comes from.

Four mechanisms in the product. No projections.

  • Products reach market soonerQueue → Market

    An application that fits the licensor's rule book is issued immediately. A product that fits is approved, or approved now with a window for the licensor to object. Only what the rules send to review waits on a person.

  • More licensees, same staffEvery case → Exceptions

    The rule book grants the routine cases, so a licensor reviews exceptions instead of every application. Programs are still set up with the Sportsmarks team.

  • Royalties from the sales that happenedSpreadsheet → Sales

    Each unit matches an approved SKU, duplicates count once, and each licensor gets one royalty line at the approved rate.

  • Noncompliance gets caughtMissed → Flagged

    An undeclared mark blocks the submission. A Shopify listing live before approval is flagged on the nightly re-crawl. A sale outside the License is charged at that licensor's maximum rate and flagged.

How a product decision is made.

Every mockup is checked against the licensor's own marks: which appear, whether they were declared, and what the product is. The rule book then decides, citing the rules it applied.

The image check only supplies facts. It never makes the call, and nothing auto-approves when the check can't run. Automatic decisions are logged as the system in the licensor's audit log.

Product decision · River State rule book v3
  • Declared marks found on the mockupRSU-0001 detected
  • No undeclared marksnothing else detected
  • Category allowed by the rule bookApparel › T-shirts
  • Channel covered by the LicenseShopify
OutcomeAuto approvedlogged as system · rule IDs cited
  • ApprovedAutoApproved, final.
  • ApprovedSoft approveApproved now; the licensor may object within a window.
  • WaitsLicensor reviewWaits for a person.
  • DeniedSoft denyDenied; the brand may appeal once.
  • DeniedBlockedDenied, final.

Where the royalty numbers come from.

A brand Owner or Finance user attests the month before licensors see their lines. Statements are issued per licensor and collected by bank debit through Stripe.

Shopify

  • Reads the storefront live and recommends products that look licensed.
  • Submit straight from the store: title, variants, SKUs and images fill in.
  • The brand's agent sends raw Shopify orders for the month, or upload the order export.

Amazon

  • Import listings (ASINs and seller SKUs). There is no live Amazon connection.
  • Upload Amazon's All Orders report, or send lines from the agent or the API.
  • Every SKU links to one product variant, so one approval covers every channel.
Agent-forward

The time comes back, because agents do the licensing work. People sign, attest and approve.

Applications, product submissions, rule-book decisions, store sync and royalty reports are the same actions in the browser, over REST and over MCP. An agent runs them. People sign the License, attest the month, and confirm the legal and money steps.

  • People keep the pen

    Signing, money, rate and rule-book changes come back as a confirmation a person approves in the browser.

  • Delegate on your terms

    An Owner chooses which gated actions the org's agents may confirm themselves.

  • Everything is audited

    Every write records who, which role, which channel (UI, REST or MCP) and which key.

  • Retries are safe

    Writes accept an idempotency key, so an agent can retry without doing the work twice.

Explore the MCP API docs
Your agent, over MCP · illustrative
  1. whats_nextFinds the next step on its ownNo License with River State yet, so the next call is an application.Read · no approval needed
  2. create_applicationApplies, and the rule book issues the LicenseShopify and Amazon, T-shirts, RSU-0001. It fits the rules, so there is no queue.Auto approved
  3. sign_licenseHands the signature to a personSigning is a legal step, so it comes back as a confirmation for an Owner.Waiting for an Owner in the browser
  4. submit_product_mockupSubmits one tee to two licensorsRSU-0001 and CSU-0004 on one product, pulled from the Shopify store.2 claims · both approved
  5. report_salesReports the month from raw Shopify orders184 order lines matched to approved SKUs; one royalty line per licensor.Ready for a person to attest
111 tools, grouped by the work

  • Get oriented

    Every session starts with whats_next, which names the next tool to call.

    • whats_next
    • whoami
    • search_holders
    • get_rulebook
    • get_brand_kit

  • Licenses

    Apply, get a rule-book decision on the spot, quote rates, sign, amend and renew.

    • create_application
    • quote_rate
    • sign_license
    • list_licenses
    • propose_amendment
    • accept_amendment

  • Product submissions

    Submit once with every mark on the product, across licensors, and follow each decision.

    • submit_product_mockup
    • get_product_status
    • list_reviews
    • decide_review
    • appeal_denial

  • Stores & catalog

    Read a Shopify storefront live, sync the products that matter and link every SKU.

    • list_store_products
    • sync_store_products
    • import_listings
    • crawl_storefront
    • list_channel_variants
    • accept_link_suggestions

  • Sales & royalties

    Send raw Shopify orders or Amazon reports; royalties are computed per licensor.

    • get_sales_reporting_guide
    • report_sales
    • upload_sales_csv
    • submit_sales_report
    • list_royalty_lines
    • list_statements

  • Licensor setup

    Marks, phrases, colors, groups and the rule book that decides for you.

    • choose_template
    • create_logo
    • create_phrase
    • set_brand_colors
    • update_brand_kit
    • update_rulebook

Run your licensing program in-house.

A team of one can run the whole program. Universities, athletic departments and other licensors keep it on their own desk.

Sportsmarks is the rule book, the brand kit and the agent tools. The routine work does not have to go to an outside licensing agency, and it does not take a large long-term contract with one. Programs are set up with the Sportsmarks team. After that, your own team runs them.

Agents handle

  • Submission review. Each product is checked against your rule book and brand kit. The check supplies the facts. The rules make the call.
  • Soft approvals. A product the rules allow is approved now, and you can object within the window. Applications are never soft-approved.
  • License issuance. When a brand's application fits, the rule book issues the License. The brand signs it.
  • Shopify sales and royalties. Live Shopify listings are re-checked nightly. Sales come from the brand's Shopify connector or an order export, and turn into one royalty line per licensor.
  • Brand kit sharing. Share the kit on a public page, or keep it behind sign-in. Artwork downloads only for brands whose License covers the mark.

One person decides

  • The rule book. What is granted, what waits for a person, and what is blocked.
  • The exceptions. Anything the rules hold for review, and whether to object to a soft approval.
  • The rates and the rules. Rate changes, rule-book edits, and License decisions come back to a person to confirm.
  • The License itself. Amend it, renew it, suspend it, or end it.

Amazon is separate from Shopify: listings are imported, and orders come from the All Orders report or from the agent. There is no live Amazon connection.

Both sides of the License.

Licensors set the rules. Brands work inside them. Agents carry the steps for either.

  • Licensors · schools, governing bodies and creators

    Grow the program without growing the staff.

    Set up with the Sportsmarks team, by invitation. Then your own team runs the program in-house.

    The licensor side
  • Brands · apparel and merchandise makers

    Get decisions when you fit the rules.

    Report sales from Shopify and Amazon, in the browser or through your agent. You still sign and attest.

    Sign up your brand
  • Agents and developers

    Every action, three ways in.

    The same actions in the app, over REST with an OpenAPI document, and as MCP tools.

    Connect your agent