Sport as a Brand and its Legal Protection in South Africa

• Citation: (2013) IPLJ 143
• Author: Owen H Dean
• Pages: 143-155
• Date: 16 August 2019
• Published date: 16 August 2019

143

SPORT AS A BRAND AND ITS LEGAL

PROTECTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

*

Owen H Dean

Professor and Chair of In tellectual Property Law, Depa rtment of Mercantile Law,

Faculty of Law, Stellenb osch University

1. IntrODuctIOn

In days of yore sport was a recreat ional pastime and it was played for pleasure

and, on an inter national level, for the honour of one’s country. Sportsmen and

women took part in spor t on a voluntar y basis and, save perhaps for receiving

reimbursement for their expe nses, little or no payment was ma de to them, no

matter how procient they were and famous they became, both nationally and

internationally.

Times, however, have changed and most major sports are now played at

top level on a professional basis. Major sporting star s receive very subst antial

incomes for plying their tr ade. Major sports have now become big business

and vast sums of money are involved in stagi ng major tournaments. They

have now become part of the entert ainment indust ry and sport s events and

participants i n those events are virt ually on a par with major enter tainment

artists ente rtainment events of whatever form and natu re.

In the light of the fact that spor ts, sports events and sportsmen a nd women

have become business enter prises it is not surpr ising that trade ma rks and

brands have entered into, and b ecome a feature, of the sport s environment.

Brands manifest the mselves in the sporting e nvironment in basically t wo

ways, namely through sponsor ships where sponsors of major sport ing

events, teams and the li ke use their involvement in order to gain publicity

and prestige for their own brand s, and through spor ting enterprises adopting

and promoting their own br ands. It has become commonplace for spor tsmen

and women, sports tea ms, major event organisers, and even national sporting

bodies, to adopt their own b rands in order to identif y a trade conne ction

between themselves and thei r enterprises, a nd to distingui sh their sporting

manifestations f rom similar mani festations of others. These bra nds take the

form of word trade marks, oft en the names of famous individu als, and/or

logos which create a visual symbol of the spor ting enterprise.

* This art icle was first publis hed in the quart erly Global Sports La w and Taxation Report s, March

2012 (41).

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(2013) IPLJ 143

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