WIPO magazine: Sports, Sporting Goods and the Sports Business

By Dr. Jochen M. Schaefer, Legal Counsel, World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI)

Sports fans around the world have been spellbound by the achievements of athletes participating in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. In previous issues, WIPO Magazine has offered a variety of perspectives on the importance of intellectual property (IP) to different sports organizations. This article explores the importance of IP protection from the perspective of the sporting goods industry.
The sports industry is a wide-ranging business encompassing the sale of food and sports memorabilia as well as the sale of media rights and sponsorship deals. Many players are involved, from clubs, leagues and sponsors to media broadcasters and, of course, those that produce all the equipment that make high-performance sport possible – the sporting goods industry. A 2011 study by management consultants A.T. Kearny estimates that the global sports industry is worth as much as US$620 billion.
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