It is the firm's exclusive licence that gives it its power.
Reynolds said: "Increasingly retailers, especially large international retailers, are looking to have their own exclusive licences.
Bestman Games, which holds an exclusive licence for the Lagos version, is hoping the latest franchise will prove as popular in Nigeria as its London original.
Had exclusive licences to import vehicles and controlled airports, harbours, tourist attractions, hotels, housing and even the black market in alcohol.
But its decision on January 12th to spend $24m to secure exclusive licences and options on drug-delivery technologies developed by Proteus Biomedical, a Californian start-up, may be just as important in the long run.
Only by considering IP protection from the outset, will the threat of being sued for patent infringement be reduced and similarly, the hefty costs associated with exclusive licence agreements minimised.
But there are clouds on the horizon for the company, not least the forthcoming loss of its exclusive licence in the US for its suboxone and subutex drugs, used for the treatment of opiate addiction.
Since the 2008 demise of Woolworths, which held the exclusive licence to sell the dolls, Sindy has not appeared as a mass-market brand on the high street and has faded into obscurity.
My daughter said, 'Dad, we've got to do this.' " Over the next couple of months, Worth negotiated a deal with Radley giving him a worldwide exclusive licence over the names Ossie Clark and Quorum.
She and her brother, Horace, who is assistant manager, took over the running of CMB a few years ago after the semi-retirement of their father, Ngan Shing-kwan, who had run his uncle's rickshaw service in Kowloon in the 1920s and had won the first exclusive licence to operate a bus service in Hong Kong in 1933.
