Intellectual Property Policy
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Every rugby club is proud of its badge, and rightly so. That is exactly why Stripe Club does not print anyone’s. This Intellectual Property Policy sets out what belongs to us, what you may do with it, what we will and will not print on a jersey, and how to tell us if you think something on stripeclub.shop uses your trademark, design or other rights. For copyright notices under the DMCA, see our DMCA page.
At a glance
- Our hoop patterns are original. We do not copy an existing club’s kit.
- We do not print club crests, league, union, tournament, school or brand marks, or sponsor logos.
- A club name appears only as plain text that you type, up to 20 characters, never as a logo or badge.
- Our name, patterns, pattern book, hoop mixer, pictures and text belong to Stripe Club. You are welcome to share links, not to copy.
- Report a concern to support@stripeclub.shop with the subject “IP concern”; we reply within 24 hours on business days.
1. Our rule on what goes on a jersey
Hoops are the oldest pattern in the game, and they belong to no one. What belongs to clubs, leagues, unions, schools, tournaments and brands is their marks: the crest, the badge, the emblem, the wordmark, the sponsor’s logo, and the particular kit that a supporter would recognise as theirs. We stay well clear of all of these. The table below is the short version.
| Request | Our answer | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A hoop pattern from our range or one you mix yourself | Yes | The patterns are original and the recipe is yours |
| Your club’s name typed as plain text across the chest | Yes | Plain typed text, chosen by you, up to 20 characters |
| A surname and number on the back | Yes | Up to 12 characters and a number from 0 to 99 |
| Two or three colours that your club also wears | Yes, in an original pattern | Colours are free to use; a kit copied line for line is not |
| A club crest or badge | No | It is that club’s mark |
| League, union, tournament or school marks | No | They belong to those organisations |
| A sponsor’s logo or a brand name styled as a logo | No | We do not reproduce any brand’s mark |
| An exact copy of a club’s current or historic kit | No | A recognisable kit design can be protected, and it is not ours to copy |
| An uploaded image or artwork | Not offered | The site takes typed text only |
1.1 The club name is plain text, and that is deliberate
The club name field prints the words you type in our own lettering. It cannot carry a badge or a stylised wordmark. If you type the name of your own social side, your college club or your old boys’ team, you are telling us what your side is called, and we print it as you typed it. You confirm, under our Terms of Service, that you have the right to use that name. If a typed name is plainly somebody else’s trademark rather than the name of your own side, we may cancel the order and refund it in full.
1.2 Three situations we see
The old boys’ game. Twenty years after leaving, a group of former players want to turn out at homecoming in something that looks like the old days. They can choose the old colours in an original hoop pattern from Tour & Sevens or the hoop mixer, type the club’s name as plain text across the chest, and put number 8 on every back if they insist. What we cannot add is the school’s crest.
A Father’s Day jersey. A daughter wants to buy her dad a jersey in his old club’s colours. Choosing those colours is fine. If she asks us to match the club’s exact kit, including its particular arrangement of bands and its badge, we will point her to a pattern of our own in the same colours instead.
The late joiner. One player joins a side mid-season and wants to match his teammates, whose jerseys came from us. He orders the same pattern from our range or the same mixer recipe, and number 17. Because the pattern is ours, that is straightforward.
2. What belongs to Stripe Club
The following are owned by Stripe Club or used with permission, and are protected by copyright, trademark and other laws:
- the Stripe Club name and any logo we use;
- our hoop patterns, including the even hoops, bands, irregulars and quarters in our range;
- the pattern book and the named recipes in it;
- the hoop mixer, its drawings and the way it works;
- the pattern plate poster and clubhouse mug artwork;
- product pictures, drawings, descriptions, guides and the text of every page, including this one.
2.1 What you are welcome to do
- Share a link to any product page, category or policy page.
- Share a hoop mixer link with your teammates so the whole side can see the recipe before anyone orders.
- Post a photo of your own Stripe Club jersey being worn, at training, on tour or in the clubhouse.
- Quote a short extract of our text with a link back to the page.
2.2 What we ask you not to do
- Copy our product pictures, patterns or descriptions onto another shop or marketplace.
- Make or sell products using our patterns or pattern book recipes as artwork.
- Rebuild the hoop mixer elsewhere, or scrape the site with automated tools other than ordinary search engines.
- Use the Stripe Club name in a way that suggests we made, endorse or are connected with something we are not.
3. Other people’s names and marks
We do not use the names or marks of real clubs, leagues, unions, tournaments, schools or brands to describe or sell our products, and our pages do not claim any connection with them. Stripe Club jerseys are not official kit of any team or competition, and we are not licensed by any of those organisations. Words like “sevens”, “fifteens”, “old boys” and “third team” on our pages describe the game and the people who play it, not any particular club.
4. How we keep to this
The patterns in our range are built from hoop widths, hoop counts and colours, which is also how the hoop mixer works. The hoop mixer offers hoop width, hoop count and colour wells, and nothing that can upload an image. Personalisation is limited to typed text and a number. If a customer’s order asks for something in the “No” column of section 1, we will email them, explain, and either adjust the order with their agreement or cancel and refund it.
4.1 A checklist for the kit secretary
If you are ordering for a side, a minute with this list saves a cancelled order later:
- Pick a pattern from Even Hoops, Bands, Irregulars & Quarters or Tour & Sevens, or mix your own. Do not try to recreate another club’s kit band for band.
- Type your side’s own name in the club name field, as the members actually say it. Twenty characters is enough for most; abbreviate if you need to.
- Leave out sponsor names. If your side has a local sponsor, the jersey field is not the place for their name or logo.
- Check each surname for spelling, apostrophes and hyphens before you pay, because we print exactly what is typed and send no proof.
5. Questions about colours, names and patterns
Can I order my club’s colours?
Yes. Nobody owns bottle green and old gold, or navy and white. You can pick two or three colours in the hoop mixer or choose a set pattern in similar colours. What we avoid is an exact copy of a particular club’s kit, such as its precise sequence of hoop widths together with its collar and badge, because a design that well known can be protected.
Can I type a tournament or festival name as the club name?
No. Tournament, league, union and festival names are often trademarks of their organisers. For a sevens weekend, type the name of your own side instead and, if you like, add the year of the trip as part of it within the 20 characters.
Our side’s name happens to match a brand name. Is that a problem?
Plain typed names of real social sides are usually fine, even when they share a word with something else. If the name you type is a well-known brand with nothing else around it, we may email you to ask about it before printing. If we cannot agree, we cancel and refund the order.
Can I reuse a Stripe Club pattern for my side’s own merchandise made elsewhere?
Please do not. The patterns are ours. If you want matching pieces, our Clubhouse range has a hooped hoodie, a long sleeve tee and a crew sweatshirt, and you can write to us about anything else.
6. How to report an intellectual property concern
If you are a rights owner, or act for one, and you believe something on stripeclub.shop or a jersey we have printed uses your trademark, kit design, name or other rights, please email support@stripeclub.shop with the subject line “IP concern” and include:
- your name, contact details and your relationship to the rights owner;
- the right concerned, for example a trademark registration number and country, or a description and picture of the kit design;
- the address of each product or page on our site you are concerned about, or a description of a printed item and where you saw it;
- a short explanation of why you believe it infringes;
- a statement that the information you have given is accurate and that you are the rights owner or authorised to act for them.
Email is the only channel. We do not have a phone line or social accounts, so a message sent anywhere else will not reach us. For copyright specifically, the DMCA page sets out the six items a copyright notice needs.
7. What happens after you report
| Step | What we do |
|---|---|
| 1. Acknowledge | We reply within 24 hours on business days to confirm we have your report or ask for anything missing |
| 2. Pause | Where the concern is about one of our own patterns or listings, we stop offering it while we look into it |
| 3. Review | We compare the listing or item with the right you have described |
| 4. Act | If the concern is valid, we remove or change the pattern, listing or text and tell you what we did |
| 5. Close | If we do not agree, we explain why and remain open to further information |
We cannot recall a jersey already delivered to a customer, but we can stop any further printing of the item concerned.
8. Ideas, suggestions and pattern requests
Customers often write in with a hoop idea: a twin band in two shades of the same colour, or a quarters jersey in their local colours. We enjoy these. If you send us an idea, we may use it in the range without payment or credit, and we will never publish your name or personal details without your permission. If you would rather keep a pattern idea to yourself, the hoop mixer lets you build it and order it without telling us anything beyond the recipe line.
9. Requests for permission and contact
To ask permission to use our patterns, pictures or text, or for any question about this policy, email support@stripeclub.shop. Postal address for legal correspondence: Stripe Club, 64A Whispering Pines Rd, New Waverly, TX 77358, US. See also our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and About Stripe Club.