Sports Marketing: Building an Athlete’s Brand - The Importance of Trademarks

In this article, we will cover the importance and use of trademarks in sports marketing generally and, in particular, in the building of an athlete’s valuable brand, the commercialisation of which will provide current and future income and financial returns, especially after the athlete’s sporting career has come to an  end. We will also review the recent important European Union General Court Decision in the NEYMAR trademark case and set out the lessons to be learned from it. Keywords: Sports Marketing, Sports Branding, Sports Sponsorship and Endorsements, Sports Image Rights, Sports Trademarks, Neymar European Union Trademark, Sports Domain Names, Guernsey Sports Image Rights Registrations