As Brand Licensing Europe approaches, independent licensing and brand development company Rocket Licensing (stand 625) is celebrating 18 months in the business with a new, bigger London team and HQ and a growing raft of properties.

It’s a select and balanced portfolio of brands, allowing Rocket to give them all real focus and support. They include the publishing phenomenon The Dangerous Book for Boys, which sees the first range of licensed product launching this summer with Hasbro’s boardgame, followed by a comprehensive range of male gifting products later in the autumn.

However, a lot has happened since Rocket’s first ever appearance at Brand Licensing in 2007, not least announcements of two new representative agreements. Earlier this year Rocket Licensing announced an agreement with MGM Consumer Products, a division of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios Inc, to represent the studio’s licensing rights (excluding The Pink Panther brand) in the United Kingdom and The Republic of Ireland.

As Brand Licensing Europe draws closer, Rocket Licensing will be building the enormous potential of the MGM archive. Visitors to the stand can hear about Rocket’s plans for classic titles such as Rocky, Fame, Robocop, The Great Escape, Some Like it Hot (which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2009), Legally Blonde and Westerns such as The Good The Bad and the Ugly and The Magnificent Seven, as well as cult television properties such as Stargate Atlantis. Rocket will also be working on the new exciting genre based collections from MGM, such as Midnite Movies (off beat horror), Tough Guy (Chuck Norris) and Soul Cinema (70s action).

The company’s recently established link with Atari, the major international producer, publisher and distributor of interactive games, will also be a big focus at the show. Atari has appointed Rocket as licensor in the UK of its classic trademark, the images and icons associated with the Atari games that began the video gaming revolution, and of one of its best-known games brands – Alone in the Dark.

Plans to target the lifestyle sector have already borne fruit. More announcements are expected in the run-up to the show and at the show itself.

With so much activity taking place in recent months don’t be surprised if Rocket has even more important announcements, involving both new properties and new licence awards, by the time of the show itself. As Charlie Donaldson, Joint Managing Director of Rocket Licensing, says: “This is only our second Brand Licensing but our progress has been phenomenal over the past year. Through new relationships, such as those with Atari and MGM, and our established roster of successful properties, we have established genuine momentum in the business, something we fully intend to sustain and increase. We expect Brand Licensing, with its opportunities to meet and promote existing clients and form new relationships, to play an important part in our continuing growth and development.”