April 27 (Bloomberg) -- FIFA, soccer's ruling body, lost the copyright for its World Cup slogan ``Fussball WM 2006,'' while no judgment was passed on whether another mark has protection.
Germany's federal supreme court didn't pass any definite decision on the ``WM 2006'' mark and referred the matter back to the federal patent court, where a case brought by confectioner Ferrero SpA will be decided, FIFA said in an e-mailed statement. Protection granted in August 2005 will remain in force until the matter has been reconsidered by the patent court, FIFA said.
Companies including Continental AG to Hyundai Motor Co. have each paid FIFA tens of millions of dollars to have their goods exclusively tied to the World Cup, scheduled to take place in Germany from June 9 to July 9.
``Our trademarks are still protected but today's decision does not augur well for the growth of our sport or for organizers of major sports events,'' FIFA General Secretary Urs Linsi said in the statement. ``Safeguarding the exclusive rights of our partners is an essential requirement for this, the world's largest privately financed sports event, which generates costs of more than 600 million euros ($752 million) for FIFA alone.
``Companies that seek to profit from the FIFA World Cup without making a contribution jeopardize the financing of the event through commercial partnerships,'' he added.
Regardless of today's decision, the ``WM 2006'' trademark will continue to be registered as a ``community trademark'' in Europe for FIFA and will consequently be protected in Germany, FIFA said. ``WM 2006'' is also protected as a ``special commercial designation'' in Germany, FIFA said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000100&sid=aOa3nSetH3bU&refer=germany
Germany's federal supreme court didn't pass any definite decision on the ``WM 2006'' mark and referred the matter back to the federal patent court, where a case brought by confectioner Ferrero SpA will be decided, FIFA said in an e-mailed statement. Protection granted in August 2005 will remain in force until the matter has been reconsidered by the patent court, FIFA said.
Companies including Continental AG to Hyundai Motor Co. have each paid FIFA tens of millions of dollars to have their goods exclusively tied to the World Cup, scheduled to take place in Germany from June 9 to July 9.
``Our trademarks are still protected but today's decision does not augur well for the growth of our sport or for organizers of major sports events,'' FIFA General Secretary Urs Linsi said in the statement. ``Safeguarding the exclusive rights of our partners is an essential requirement for this, the world's largest privately financed sports event, which generates costs of more than 600 million euros ($752 million) for FIFA alone.
``Companies that seek to profit from the FIFA World Cup without making a contribution jeopardize the financing of the event through commercial partnerships,'' he added.
Regardless of today's decision, the ``WM 2006'' trademark will continue to be registered as a ``community trademark'' in Europe for FIFA and will consequently be protected in Germany, FIFA said. ``WM 2006'' is also protected as a ``special commercial designation'' in Germany, FIFA said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000100&sid=aOa3nSetH3bU&refer=germany