As is the case for many hobbies, participation in stargazing, a particularly calming pastime for many, has spiked during the pandemic, and the rising interest in the stars has resulted in record sales of telescopes, according to retailers and suppliers. This is good news for both the licensors recently signing deals in the space and the IP owners that have been in this market for years.
Telescope licensees hold rights for properties that mostly have a scientific or educational bent, marrying them with products that range from starter to sophisticated. Some of the players include:
- Celestron, the leader when it comes to licensed telescopes. (It also sells licensed microscopes and binoculars.) The company recently signed deals with Royal Museums Greenwich for telescopes tied to the Royal Observatory and with Bonnier for products under the Popular Science brand. (Popular Science and other Bonnier magazine brands were subsequently purchased by North Equity and its portfolio company Recurrent Ventures, with licensing now handled by Camden Media). Both licensed lines launch in 2021. Other Celestron licenses over the years (some of which are still current) have included the National Park Foundation, Discovery Expedition, L.L. Bean, and the documentary mini-series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, in a deal with Twentieth Century Fox.
- Bresser, a German marketer of telescopes as well as other science-based electronics such as weather stations, microscopes, compasses, solar system projectors, and the like, holds the rights to make telescopes for National Geographic and the University of Oxford. It sells both telescopes and some of its other products for each brand.
- NSI International, a toy company known for its STEM-based kits and activities, offers a Smithsonian-branded kids’ 50 power, 40mm telescope as part of a broader deal with the museum that encompasses products such as crystal-growing and fingerprinting kits, plasma balls, wave machines, and many more.
- Blue Marble (formerly JMW Sales), known for its Discover with Dr. Cool line of STEM toys, makes NASA telescopes under the Dr. Cool brand. It also holds the National Geographic license for science toys, but telescopes are not included under that agreement.
Interest in telescopes tends to rise whenever there are notable astronomical events, such as eclipses, rarely seen alignments of planets, nearby meteor showers, and the like. This year, the space tourism industry has gained traction, with flights to the edge of space by three private companies, Space X, Virgin Galactic, and Blue Origin, including Blue Origin’s high-profile flight with Star Trek actor William Shatner last week. Activities like these may ensure interest in space stays strong post-pandemic, as well as keeping sales of telescopes, including licensed versions, in the stratosphere.
A reminder that this month’s Raugust Communications’ e-newsletter will be distributed tomorrow, October 19. The Licensing Topic of the month is a look at one of the buzzwords of the year, the “metaverse.” And the Datapoint research spotlight analyzes how the licensing community’s approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion has changed in the past 12 months. If you do not yet receive this free publication in your in-box, you can subscribe here.
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