Should a Japanese partner pay you for exclusivity? What actually protects your brand

An upfront fee feels like commitment. In practice it often works the other way. A company that has paid a large sum for your rights now needs to earn that money back before it takes any more risk. It becomes cautious with ad spend, slow with new channels, and happy to hold your rights while it waits.

Meanwhile your brand is locked out of Japan. The fee bought you a signature. It did not buy you a market.

In our experience, most exclusive deals for Japan are signed without an upfront fee. What the brand gets instead is a partner that puts its money into the launch itself.

• Your trademark in Japan. Check whether it is registered and in whose name. It should be yours.
• Who owns what after the deal. Japanese product pages, translated materials, certification documents and customer data: agree in writing what happens to them if the partnership ends.

We are usually the side asking for exclusive rights, so we try to make the deal one we would accept as the brand. We buy at wholesale, starting with a small first order, and pay for the Japanese launch ourselves: localization, certifications such as PSE, crowdfunding, Amazon and Rakuten, ads and retail partners.

We are also selective. For every 100 overseas manufacturers we shortlist, we end up signing with two or three, because a launch only works when the product, the price and the partner fit at the same time.