1. Introduction
Organising a sport event is a complex task, and whether you are a football federation or a local sport event organiser, your intellectual property rights are often at risk, vulnerable to various forms of violations, which can lead to significant financial losses.
A substantial number of these infringements seek to benefit from the media coverage of your sporting event, without obtaining your prior approval or paying the required sponsorship fees.
2. What kinds of infringements?
These infringements can take many forms, often going unnoticed initially but ultimately impacting your event’s integrity and its sponsorship value.
Examples of infringements include ambush marketing strategy: a crowd of supporters all wearing shirts bearing the logo of a brand that is not an official sponsor of your event to a rival brand putting up a large number of advertising hoardings around the venue in order to benefit from the popularity of your event. In more extreme situations, a company might be selling products displaying your protected sign, without your prior authorisation. According to a study by the EUIPO, in the EU, more than EUR 850 million in annual sales are lost due to counterfeit sports equipment[1].
These types of actions not only harm your brand, but also jeopardise sponsors’ interest in your events, a crucial source of funding.
Fortunately, various mechanisms are available to effectively combat these phenomena.
3. Legal remedies
Legal solutions exist to avoid or combat practices that may affect the profitability of a sporting event.
Whether it's Trademark law that addresses the counterfeiting of your goods or any unauthorised use of your protected sign, Competition law that tackles misleading or parasitic advertising, or Copyright law that plays a crucial role in protecting original graphics, artwork, and even music created for the event, there are legal remedies available both pre-emptively and reactively to address these practices.
In addition to legal provisions, organisers can protect themselves through contracts, which set terms and restrictions on the commercial exploitation of their event, and may also establish venue regulations in order to prevent certain ambushes within the site or stadium itself, thus limiting the unapproved promotion of goods and services.
4. Key considerations
It is therefore crucial for organisers to implement protective measures and use the various mechanisms provided for by the law to monitor potential infringements, thereby ensuring that their events and their trademarks are safeguarded against unauthorised commercial exploitation.
An Organiser's Checklist:
-
Have you secured trademark protection for your event's logo and name?
-
Do you have contracts in place with all sponsors and partners?
-
Are you monitoring for unauthorised use of your intellectual property?
-
Have you consulted with legal professionals to ensure comprehensive protection?
For further information, please contact Sara Ataei, Olivier Belleflamme or Paul van den Bulck.
[1] Foul play: The high cost of IP infringement in sports - EUIPO
1. Introduction
Organising a sport event is a complex task, and whether you are a football federation or a local sport event organiser, your intellectual property rights are often at risk, vulnerable to various forms of violations, which can lead to significant financial losses.
A substantial number of these infringements seek to benefit from the media coverage of your sporting event, without obtaining your prior approval or paying the required sponsorship fees.
2. What kinds of infringements?
These infringements can take many forms, often going unnoticed initially but ultimately impacting your event’s integrity and its sponsorship value.
Examples of infringements include ambush marketing strategy: a crowd of supporters all wearing shirts bearing the logo of a brand that is not an official sponsor of your event to a rival brand putting up a large number of advertising hoardings around the venue in order to benefit from the popularity of your event. In more extreme situations, a company might be selling products displaying your protected sign, without your prior authorisation. According to a study by the EUIPO, in the EU, more than EUR 850 million in annual sales are lost due to counterfeit sports equipment[1].
These types of actions not only harm your brand, but also jeopardise sponsors’ interest in your events, a crucial source of funding.
Fortunately, various mechanisms are available to effectively combat these phenomena.
3. Legal remedies
Legal solutions exist to avoid or combat practices that may affect the profitability of a sporting event.
Whether it's Trademark law that addresses the counterfeiting of your goods or any unauthorised use of your protected sign, Competition law that tackles misleading or parasitic advertising, or Copyright law that plays a crucial role in protecting original graphics, artwork, and even music created for the event, there are legal remedies available both pre-emptively and reactively to address these practices.
In addition to legal provisions, organisers can protect themselves through contracts, which set terms and restrictions on the commercial exploitation of their event, and may also establish venue regulations in order to prevent certain ambushes within the site or stadium itself, thus limiting the unapproved promotion of goods and services.
4. Key considerations
It is therefore crucial for organisers to implement protective measures and use the various mechanisms provided for by the law to monitor potential infringements, thereby ensuring that their events and their trademarks are safeguarded against unauthorised commercial exploitation.
An Organiser's Checklist:
-
Have you secured trademark protection for your event's logo and name?
-
Do you have contracts in place with all sponsors and partners?
-
Are you monitoring for unauthorised use of your intellectual property?
-
Have you consulted with legal professionals to ensure comprehensive protection?
For further information, please contact Sara Ataei, Olivier Belleflamme or Paul van den Bulck.
[1] Foul play: The high cost of IP infringement in sports - EUIPO