Sport

and

Fitnesss.

The best possible protection starts with understanding: We know the legal challenges of athletes, fitness providers, sporting goods manufacturers, sports event organizers and issues of marketing and monetization in IP and IT law and have been successfully advising our clients in the field of sports and fitness for many years.

Call now!

Sports and fitness industry

The sports and fitness industry is a global economic factor of enormous importance. It includes sporting goods manufacturers and equipment suppliers, sports event organizers and associations, professional athletes and sportspeople, clubs and leagues, the growing fitness and health industry with its studio concepts and franchise systems, as well as a large number of service providers in the areas of sponsorship, media rights and marketing. More than almost any other sector, sport and fitness combine innovation and tradition, technological progress and top human performance. From the development of new materials for sports shoes and the marketing of major international events to AI-driven fitness offerings and digital fan engagement, the industry touches on almost all disciplines of intellectual property and IT law.

The economic importance of sport goes far beyond the playing field. Sporting events such as the Olympic Games, soccer World Cups or Formula 1 generate billions in revenue through broadcasting rights, sponsorship, merchandising and ticketing. This revenue is directly linked to the exploitation of property rights. These include brand licenses for jerseys and fan merchandise, broadcasting rights for TV and streaming, patents for innovative sports technology and design rights for the design of equipment and stadiums. IP laws form the basis of business transactions that secure the economic value of sport and drive the industry forward.

At the same time, the sports industry is facing profound changes. Digitalization is changing the way sport is consumed, marketed and analysed. While the use of AI in training, tactical analysis and fan engagement opens up completely new possibilities, it also raises complex issues of data protection and regulation. The globalization of sports marketing also makes an internationally coordinated property rights strategy indispensable for all players in the industry.

In recent years, the fitness sector has developed into an independent economic factor within the sports and health industry. With over ten million members in more than 9,000 fitness studios in Germany alone, the market is large and highly competitive. Franchising in particular is shaping the industry: systems such as clever fit, EASYFITNESS, Bodystreet and Mrs. Sporty enable founders to operate their own studios under established trademarks. At the same time, innovative concepts such as AI-controlled fitness studios, EMS boutique studios and digital training platforms are emerging, further differentiating the market. Trademark, competition and data protection law issues play a central role for all of these business models.

Sport and fitness thrive on innovation, passion and strong trademarks. Only those who comprehensively protect their trademarks, designs, technologies and media rights can secure and expand the economic value of sport and the fitness industry in the long term.

IP and IT law in the sports and fitness industry

Few other industries demonstrate IP law in action as impressively as the sports and fitness industry. Patents drive technological innovations that lead to better and safer sports equipment. Trademarks and designs shape the identity of clubs, events, sporting goods manufacturers and fitness chains. Copyrights and related rights generate the revenue that broadcasters and platforms need to finance the cost-intensive transmission of sporting events worldwide. IP laws also form the basis for licensing, merchandising and franchise agreements that generate significant revenues for the development of the industry as a whole.

At the same time, IT legal issues are rapidly gaining in importance. Sports clubs and associations as well as fitness studio operators are increasingly relying on data-driven analyses, AI-supported training and digital customer offers. These must be carefully designed in accordance with data protection law and legal requirements for artificial intelligence.

Trademarks in sport and fitness

Trademarks are a central strategic and economic asset in the sports and fitness industry. Strong trademarks create customer loyalty, justify premium prices and represent valuable assets that contribute significantly to sales and growth.

In sport, trademark protection covers a particularly wide range of protected objects: Club and league names, event names, logos and emblems, mascots, slogans, but also three-dimensional trademarks such as characteristic product shapes of sporting goods or trophy designs. Trademark protection is of existential importance for sporting goods manufacturers. Well-known examples are the Adidas three-stripes trademark, the Nike swoosh or the Puma logo, which each represent independent brand values far beyond their function as commercial designations.

For sports organizers and associations, trademark protection is closely linked to the commercial exploitation of their events. Event trademarks such as “FIFA World Cup”, “UEFA Champions League” or the Olympic rings and designations form the basis for licensing, sponsorship and merchandising contracts, which account for a significant proportion of event financing. It is therefore crucial for sports event organizers to protect their event brands strategically and at an early stage.

Trademark protection is of comparable importance in the fitness industry. Anyone who opens a fitness studio, whether as a franchisee or with their own concept, must protect the studio name and logo under trademark law in order to differentiate themselves from the competition and protect the reputation they have built up. In franchise systems, the clear assignment of trademark ownership between franchisor and franchisee is of crucial importance, as license agreements, co-branding agreements and the entire expansion strategy are based on legally secure ownership. Own training concepts, course names or digital fitness offers can also be protected as trademarks to prevent imitators from accessing the brand value that has been built up.

Professional athletes, fitness influencers and personal trainers are increasingly using trademark applications to secure their own names, nicknames or personal logos as a trademark and thus secure their marketing opportunities, be it for merchandise, apps or their own product lines.

We support athletes and companies in the sports and fitness industry worldwide with their trademark strategy. This includes the registration, management and monitoring of trademarks as well as the enforcement and defense of their trademark rights.

Designs and copyrights in sports and fitness

Design and aesthetics play a far-reaching role in the sports and fitness sector. This applies to the design of sports equipment and clothing as well as jersey designs, packaging, stadium architecture and the visual identity of sports events and fitness studios. Wherever image and aesthetics play a role, design law is also important. Registered designs protect the external appearance of products and make it possible to effectively combat imitations.

Copyright law also protects creative services throughout the industry. This includes event logos and mascots, provided they have the required work quality, as well as audiovisual productions to promote sporting goods and events. Fitness studio operators’ and personal trainers’ own training videos, course concepts and digital training content can also be protected by copyright. This should be taken into account when licensing to third parties or incorporating into franchise agreements. License agreements with the collecting societies are required for the use of music in fitness courses and studio areas.

Copyright and related rights in the area of sports broadcasts are of particular economic importance. These laws, in particular the broadcasting rights of broadcasters, form the basis for the relationship between sport and television or streaming services. The illegal distribution of sports broadcasts via unauthorized streams on the internet poses a significant threat to the financing model of professional sport and requires consistent IP enforcement.

We support athletes and companies in the sports and fitness industry in the registration, management and monitoring of designs and effectively enforce copyrights and design rights against infringers or defend against corresponding claims.

Competition law, sponsorship and ambush marketing in sport and fitness

Competition law plays a special role in the sports and fitness industry. Ambush marketing is a key issue in professional sport. This involves companies that are not official sponsors of a sporting event using the public interest in the event for their own advertising purposes. This form of “ambush marketing” is legally extremely complex and affects trademark law, competition law and copyright law in equal measure.

Direct ambush marketing, in which official trademarks, logos or mascots of an event are used without a license, is generally clearly illegal. Indirect ambush marketing, on the other hand, where a company uses the event as a leitmotif for its own advertising campaign without using official commercial designations, is in a legal gray area. In this case, there may be claims under competition law for misleading or unfair exploitation of reputation if the consumer is given the false impression of an official sponsor relationship.

In the fitness industry, other areas of competition law are relevant. For example, advertising with health promises, scientifically unproven training effects or misleading before-and-after depictions can lead to cease and desist letters under competition law. If health-related claims are made that refer to the elimination or alleviation of illnesses – for example when advertising physiotherapy services or medically oriented training concepts – special provisions of the law on the advertising of therapeutic products apply. The Price Indication Ordinance and consumer information obligations in distance selling are also relevant for studios that offer memberships online or conclude contracts via digital channels.

We support athletes and companies in the sports and fitness industry in drafting and enforcing sponsorship and license agreements, in questions relating to advertising measures and in complying with competition law requirements.

Patents and innovation

Technological innovation is a key driver of the sports and fitness industry. From the development of new materials for sportswear and the design of aerodynamic bicycle frames to intelligent sensors in sports equipment and EMS training devices, inventions play a key role in pushing the boundaries of sporting performance and improving the safety of athletes. Patents protect these innovations and secure the inventors and their companies the economic return on their research and development work.

In the sports sector, patentable innovations are particularly diverse. They range from novel cushioning systems in running shoes and innovative prosthetics for Paralympic sports to data-supported training equipment and wearables. Patentable technologies are also constantly emerging in the fitness industry, for example in electro-muscle stimulation (EMS), AI-supported training machines or digital coaching platforms that create individual training plans based on real-time data.

We support athletes and companies in the sports and fitness industry in the enforcement of and defense against patent claims. We work together with specialized patent attorneys to register patents.

IT law, AI and data protection in sorting and fitness

Digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence are fundamentally changing sport and the fitness industry. In professional sport, 3D tracking technologies capture players’ movements as digital skeletons. AI models analyze thousands of game situations in order to optimize tactics. Clubs use AI-supported systems for scouting, injury prevention and performance analysis. For example, soccer clubs have implemented AI systems that support their employees with specialized AI applications from scouting to turf maintenance, or they have developed analysis models that have been trained using thousands of real game situations. In the fitness industry, AI-controlled studios already offer their members fully automated, individual training recommendations and digital coaching platforms create personalized training plans based on performance and health data.

These developments raise significant legal questions. Both sports law and AI law are cross-cutting issues, and where the two intersect, complexity and vulnerability increase significantly. The EU AI Regulation takes a risk-based approach and contains no exception for sport. Camera tracking for tactical analysis and TV graphics does not regularly fall into the high-risk category as long as no automated decisions are made about individuals. However, if biometric data is processed or AI systems are used for personnel decisions, the stricter requirements of the AI Regulation may apply.

This applies both to the AI-supported performance analysis of athletes and to the collection of health and performance data in fitness studios, for example through body analysis scales, wearables or training apps. In both cases, data protection law must always be observed. As special categories of personal data, health and performance data are subject to particularly strict requirements.

In professional sport, the autonomy of associations also plays a role: FIFA, UEFA and national leagues set their own data rules that supplement, but cannot supersede, state law. Sports organizations and gym operators that use AI systems should therefore implement holistic AI governance that reconciles the requirements of the AI Regulation with data protection regulations.

The increasing digitalization of fan engagement and customer contact via apps, platforms and social media channels ultimately presents clubs, event organizers and gym operators alike with the challenge of designing their digital offerings in compliance with data protection regulations and meeting the requirements of e-commerce law – be it in the online sale of merchandising items and tickets or the digital conclusion of membership contracts.

We support clubs, associations and companies in the legally compliant design of AI applications, in digitalization projects, in the area of e-commerce and in the data protection-compliant processing of athlete, member and fan data.

Our expertise – your advantage

Our many years of experience and specialization in IP and IT law enable us to develop tailor-made solutions for the specific requirements of the sports and fitness industry. We support you from strategic advice through to the enforcement of your laws in order to ensure your long-term success in this dynamic and highly competitive market environment.