Gone are the days whensporting events andsports were viewed asa mere source ofentertainment. Todaythe play grounds areflooded with brandnames, sponsor names, trademarks andlogos which garner brand valuation andreputation of enterprises. Hence, todaysporting event or sports are intrinsicallybound with Intellectual Property (IP) rightsand protection.
One of the earliest instances whenIntellectual Property was brought on thefield was when Rudolf Lettner patented“steel edge ski” in 1926 and today there arevarious sports equipment and moves whichenjoy the imprimatur of national andinternational IP Offices. For example UsainBolt’s “Lightning Bolt” and his slogan “todi world” and Michael Jordan’s “Jumpanpose” are registered trademarks i.e.unauthorised use of the said marks orslogans could tantamount to trademark infringement.In the present times, sporting events likeFIFA, Olympics, World Cup or IPL havebecome a hub of IP commercialization andvaluation.
Whether it is brand name, team name, teamlogo, slogans, taglines or catchphrasestrademarks are all over the field. Suchnames and symbols render an authenticsource of identification and enableassociation with a team or club. In India,the Indian Premiere League (IPL) teamshave several registrations and applicationsfor their team names, logos and taglines inrespect of several goods like clothing,sportswear, footwear etc.
A trademark search reveals that more than650 trademark applications have been filedby Kolkata Knight Riders whereasapproximately 6 and 113 trademarkapplications have been filed by ChennaiSuper Kings (India Cements Ltd.) andMumbai Indians (Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd.)respectively.
With the dawn of the Indian PremiereLeague (IPL), sports events in India hasgained positive momentous and brands,logos, trademarks and monetization of IPplay an elementary role on field.Theassessment of IP asset held by the teamsalso help in assessing of their brand value.The American Appraisal which conductsvaluation and renders valuation relatedadvisory services reports that the IPL brandvalue is derived from wider variety ofreasons keeping in mind the Indian viewersand they are:
The report states that while assessing brandvalue several methods and techniques aredeployed of which the most popular is theRelief Royalty Method. The Relief fromRoyalty Method, is premised on the royaltythat a company would have to pay for theuse of brand/ trademark if they had tolicense it.
Commercialization and licensing of brandshas become one of the most revenuegeneratedtrend among sports teams. Sportsteams come up with various merchandisesuch as caps, shoes, t-shirts, sportsequipment which are very popular amongmasses. T-shirts of players are covered withlogos of various brands. Such teams engagein merchandising activities by licensingtheir works to a third party. For licensing.agreements are entered into by theparties with various clauses stipulatingterms and conditions.
Another IP issue of remarkable concernduring sporting events, particularlyFIFA World Cup is “Ambush Marketing”.It primarily refers to a technique ofmarketing which aims at securingadvantage of the huge interest and highprofile of an event by creating acommercial association or seekingpromotional exposure without theauthorisation of the event organiser.
Ambush marketing has been noticed onseveral occasions during the FIFA WorldCup event and has been a subject ofprofound concern in the recent times.On account of global appeal coupledwith proliferation of sources of viewingthe event, FIFA attracts lots ofambushers which gives them anopportunity to associate their productswith a major event, thereby misleadingconsumers. During 2010 FIFA WorldCup Match in South Africa, BravarianBrewery of Netherlands which was notan official sponsor, hired thirty sixwomen to attend the match wearingunbranded orange skirts whichendorsed Bavarian Brewery. Later onthe women were removed from thestadium and two were arrested oncharges of unlawful commercialactivities. On account of the saidpublicity stunt, Bravaria was accused ofambushing Budweiser which was theofficial sponsor of the event and werealso accused of violating theContravention of Merchandise MarksAct, a law passed in South Africa forthe World Cup event.
It was also reported that during 2010FIFA, in which Adidas was the officialsponsor, Nike had put out a lengthyonline viral video of its own featuringmany of the players, thereby ambushingAdidas.
It can be said that IP is the new playeron field and sports teams and clubs areardently creating rights andaggressively protecting them frominfringement. IP commercialization hasbecome one of the most sought aftersources of revenue generation by sportsteams.
There is no denying of the fact that IPasset plays an immense role inevaluation of brand of any entity andIP licensing or commercializationfurther augments its value.
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