I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately…

Basically, licensing concerns products that feature Rilakkuma designs with the official permission/blessings of San-X, but are not made directly by San-X themselves.

For example, if you were a tech accessories company and you wanted to produce and sell Rilakkuma laptop covers, you would have to get the Rilakkuma license from San-X in order to legally use Rilakkuma’s design on your merchandise, and the license would be different depending on whether you were based in Japan or not.

To clarify a bit more: for me, there are 4 basic categories of Rilakkuma goods:

• Direct from San-X Goods
• Campaigns/Collaboration Goods
• Licensed Goods
• Inauthentic/Fake Goods

For reference, the vast majority of plushies in my collection (and featured on this blog) are made directly by San-X, and my authenticity and quality guide is based around the San-X plushies.

Additionally, licensed goods differ from the campaign/collaboration…