Fifa defends itself against trademark judgment
On Thursday, the world soccer federation suffered a defeat before the Federal Court of Justice. FIFA denies that the federation’s conduct regarding trademark protection constitutes an abuse of rights.
On Thursday, football's world governing body Fifa suffered a defeat at the hands of the German Federal Court of Justice in the dispute over the exclusive marketing of the World Cup. According to SDA, Fifa is now defending itself against the plaintiffs' argument that the association's behavior with regard to trademark protection was an abuse of rights. Their lawyer Herbert Messer said that the 2006 World Cup was clearly linked to the world football association. "The temporal limitation assigns ownership solely to FIFA. "FIFA Secretary General Urs Linsi is also of the opinion that the BGH's decision is not a good signal for the growth of the sport and for the organizers of major sporting events in general.
The organizational costs for FIFA alone amount to over 600 million euros (around 947 million Swiss francs). According to Linsi, anyone who profits commercially from the World Cup without making a contribution is "massively compromising the principle of partnership-based financing of the event."
The World Federation is concerned with protecting its fifteen sponsors and also the six national sponsors of the German World Cup organizing committee. Together, these sponsors have spent around 750 million euros to be able to advertise exclusively in their product groups worldwide or at national level.
The organizational costs for FIFA alone amount to over 600 million euros (around 947 million Swiss francs). According to Linsi, anyone who profits commercially from the World Cup without making a contribution is "massively compromising the principle of partnership-based financing of the event."
The World Federation is concerned with protecting its fifteen sponsors and also the six national sponsors of the German World Cup organizing committee. Together, these sponsors have spent around 750 million euros to be able to advertise exclusively in their product groups worldwide or at national level.
