Titles published by Rocklands Communications:
Feb 2008 • Issue 2
FIFA trademarks a yearOn 6 February 2008 the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) gave FIFA the intellectual property rights to the use of the phrases 2010, World Cup, Soccer World Cup and various variations. See: www.buanews.gov.za/view.php?ID=08020511451002&coll=buanew08 By granting FIFA trademark rights to these phrases, it effectively bars anybody else from creating advertising or markering material using phrases or words like 2010, World Cup, RSA 2010 and various others. The DTI has, however, given the press special dispensation to use these trademarked words — after all, it would have been rather difficult to publicise the fact that SA is hosting you know what in the year after 2009 in a Gauteng city on a newspaper placard. What are the implications for suppliers of soccer replica and other products that could be linked to 2010… and how are retailers going to let the public know that they sell these items? With difficulty, it seems. Namibian, Botswana and other neighbouring retailers will be able to advertise freely that they sell the Puma Italy World Cup 2010 supporters shirt, or the Argentinian jersey by Lotto; Nike’s 2010 Brazil shirts, or Umbro’s England Soccer World Cup replica… but SA retailers will be prohibited from doing this (unless they can come to an agreement with FIFA soon!). While adidas, as a major FIFA partner/ sponsor, will have no problem selling their Bafana Bafana, Germany etc shirts, other brands and retailers will have to be very innovative if they want to conduct business as usual. As everybody who has ever sponsored an event will agree, it is just right that the companies, like adidas, who paid millions for the right to become FIFA partners, are protected against ambush marketing. There is, however, a vast difference between protecting a major sponsor against ambush marketing and preventing other companies and brands from conducting normal business. As we said in our submission to the DTI when we objected to the FIFA application for such wide ranging trademarks, the granting of these trademark rights to FIFA will be detrimental to the normal business practices of all sportswear retailers and suppliers. Not only will it be extremely difficult to sell football replica, it will be difficult to advertise all ranges launched for 2010. These issues were also raised by the many people who requested us to submit objections to the FIFA trademark application on their behalf. The deadline for these objections was September 2007 — but was extended to October. We know how many objections we submitted on behalf of the industry, and we also know that many other industries (including hospitality, advertising and marketing) submitted many objections. It must have taken super-human effort to read and duly consider all these before the trademark rights were awarded in February. The fact that the trademark application process has been streamlined to such an extent must surely be good news for future trademark applicants. It took us three years to get the name Tackle Trader trademarked — and that without any objections! Protected phrases for the 2010 tournament are:
Protected phrases for the 2009 Confederations Cup:
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