The Lifecycle Of An International Athlete - Dealing With Branding And Image Rights

This blog in our series for international athletes explains the key legal points on image rights and trade marks to consider when coming to compete in the UK.

For athletes and sports personalities, in their capacity as ‘brand owners’, registering their personal brands is an important investment that generates significant practical, commercial and legal benefits, and enables them to prevent unauthorised usage and take full advantage of any licensing and/or other commercial opportunities.

This blog explores some of the core intellectual property rights that might form part of an athlete’s brand portfolio:

• How does image right protection in England and Wales compare to other countries?
• Is there anywhere to register image rights?
• Are there alternative means of protecting image rights in the UK?
  • "Passing off"
• Trade mark registration