University of Rochester
EN-15: Trademark Licensing

Each licensed vendor for the University of Rochester must adhere to a Standard Licensing Agreement through CLC. That agreement lays out the obligations the licensee has as they relate to codes of conduct. All vendors must fully comply with the requirements of the FLA, and if needed, work with the WRC when requested.

Barnes & Noble College has been aligned with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) since the earliest days of this movement on college campuses in the late 1990s. Today, more than 22 years later, we continue to require all vendors who supply products to our stores to adopt the FLA’s Code of Conduct.

Through our new partnership with Lids, we are finalizing the extension of these policies into the buying and compliance guidelines for all vendors selling to Barnes & Noble College. As such, the same strict guidelines that have been in place at Barnes & Noble College will continue into the future through Lids.

The Fanatics Brands family of companies has a long-standing commitment to the FLA. Fanatics Brands is a member of the FLA, and has completed the first three steps in the FLA accreditation process. Fanatics expects to complete the full accreditation process with the FLA by the latter half of 2021. Furthermore, Fanatics by Top of the World has achieved accreditation twice: the first time in 2012 as a stand-alone headwear company and again in 2018 as part of Vetta Brands.

In January 2021, Fanatics Brands announced the transition of its social compliance division to sustainability in recognition of, and in commitment to, its role as a conscious global citizen. This reorganization includes a focus on three key pillars of work: labor, environment and traceability. As such, Fanatics is also affiliated with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition – the apparel, footwear and textile industry’s leading alliance for sustainable production – and will further its capability to develop a best-in-class environmental program. As consumer expectations shift beyond just fair labor practices and into sustainability and environmental impact, Fanatics will seek an industry leadership position in this critically evolving area.

University of Rochester can expect a strong and ongoing commitment from our partnership to support your school’s position on these critical issues. Barnes & Noble College, Lids and Fanatics as a partnership will uphold your core values in both our words – and our actions.

The development of a social compliance program is a continuous journey toward enhanced transparency, collaboration and sustainable improvement. Barnes & Noble College, Lids and Fanatics are dedicated to this goal. It is not only essential to the success of this partnership, but also to the welfare of those individuals throughout the world who work to support our industry every day.

Please note that even though the University is not a member of the Fair Labor Association the bookstore (Barnes and Nobles) is a member of the FLA. Barnes and Nobles required all vendors who supply products to our stores to adopt the FLA’s Code of Conduct, which requires strict adherence to workers’ rights (and no child labor). And all of the brands sold in our bookstores currently meet labor standards set by the Workers Rights Consortium (WCA), an independent labor rights monitoring organization.