K-I-J,
That's what I thought, but on going to the modeller's website concerned, there were lots of concerned small business types (the sort who put out markings not in kits - you know the sort of thing - Airfix lets you model a Harrier of 1 Sqn, while the decal manufacturer provides you with the ability to present your creation as something wearing the markings of 3, 4 or 20 Sqns) moaning about the MoD and the royalty charges. A couple of posters had alrady posited that it must be some kind of hoax, and I was minded to believe them.
I too thought that the ruling about the roundel being around for years and years, and having seen wide public use would apply, but this - apparently - is only applicable to clothing, not squadron badges, airfix kit decals, etc, etc. I'm not sure how that would hold up in a court, but I was still mildly sceptical...
...but then I found the links to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So I've done a bit of searching, and found a report in the Independent (via
http://www3.all-usenet-archive.com/F...?service=37573)
Source: Independent du 20.10.2004
[The] Air Force yesterday signed a ground-breaking deal to produce a range of its own copyright-protected merchandise. It is believed to be the first broad-ranging agreement by any of Britain's armed forces to exploit their intellectual property. Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Defence, yesterday signed the deal with 4Kids Entertainment International, the overseas operation of a USowned group specialising in intellectual property.
4Kids has merchandised popular children's products including Pokemon, Ninja Turtles and#u-Gi-Oh trading cards, a current craze. The RAF said it would use the MOD'S intellectual rights group to protect the trademarks it has now
registered....
...Squadron Leader Simon Buckingham said: "We want to raise awareness of the air force with the public in an appealing way .'.. the commercial part of this is almost incidental." He said research had shown that 47 per cent of the public did not know what RAF meant and most had difficulty differentiating between it and the Army. The royalties that the RAF will receive from the products will go to the Royal Air Fbrce Museum in Hendon, north London....
...
There will be four strands to the exploitation of the RAF brand; firstly, a mass-market range including computer games, "back to school" items, toys, stationery and clothing. An "authentics" range will seek to replicate the items used by members of the RAF, including sunglasses, penknives, bomberjackets and watches that can withstand high G-forces. A collectors' programme will produce memorabilia, such as plates and pictures, and a publishing programme will bring out coffee table books and part-works.
I'm begining to see where the idea of the RAF rucksack originated.