Bristows’ partner Paul Jordan and associate Sebastian Stewart have recently featured in an article in The Athletic (owned by the New York Times) discussing Chelsea and England footballer Cole Palmer’s recent successful registration to trade mark his signature shivering celebration with the United Kingdom’s government Intellectual Property Office. 

The article is a follow up to a 7 October article which also featured associate Sebastian Stewart. It explores Palmer’s IP strategy and highlights the commercial considerations for athletes as their personal brands develop. 

Speaking to The Athletic, Paul noted that Palmer’s approach reflects a sophisticated and proactive IP strategy: 

“I think for me this just looks like someone, in Cole Palmer, he or his advisors are taking their intellectual property and image rights really seriously.” 

“They’re just trying to assemble a bundle of registered rights that they can demonstrate to the world are super important, which might drive value when he’s entering into deals.” 

Paul emphasised that the purpose of these registrations is not to prevent fans from copying the celebration, but to ensure Palmer can control its commercial use. 

Later in the article, Sebastian comments on what Palmer’s new trademark means for use of the celebration in video games such as EA Sports FC: 

“From a technical point of view, he has the registered right… so he could restrict EA Sports FC from using it unless they paid, for example, a licence fee.” 

“I think it’s more part of the broader brand image protection strategy that him and his team are looking at, particularly securing long-term protection over his image rights through registered marks.” 

Sebastian added that, in practice, Palmer is likely to personally want his celebration featured in future games even if the celebration is a registered right, so may be reluctant to impose unreasonable (or any) licence fees. 

You can read the full article here (subscription required). 

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised, please get in touch with Paul or Sebastian.