The FIFA World Cup and the Protection of Its Commercial and Intellectual Property Rights

By María Fernanda Alonso, Pittaluga Abogados

The FIFA World Cup is one of the world's most significant sporting and commercial events.

Its enormous global and media impact creates opportunities for all types of companies, but also significant legal restrictions related to the protection of intellectual property and FIFA's commercial rights.

FIFA maintains a particularly strict policy to protect its intangible assets and guarantee the exclusivity granted to its official sponsors. Protected elements include its trademarks, official names, logos, emblems, trophies, mascots, slogans, audiovisual content, and other distinctive signs associated with the tournament.

One of the main goals of this protection is to prevent so-called ambush marketing, which involves taking advantage of an event's notoriety to gain benefits through advertising or promotional actions that create the impression of an association with that event, without official authorization or sponsorship.

In the case of the FIFA World Cup, this type of infringement occurs when a company attempts to commercially associate itself with the event by using FIFA trademarks without being an official sponsor. In other words, it occurs when a commercial link with FIFA and/or the World Cup is implied or suggested that does not actually exist.

Without FIFA's authorization, it is not permitted to use trademarks such as "FIFA," "FIFA World Cup," "Copa Mundial de la FIFA," "Mundial XXXX," nor official logos, emblems, trophies, mascots, or slogans. These restrictions apply to traditional advertising as well as digital campaigns of any kind, and also to the use of these assets on merchandising products.

There are also limitations on the commercial use of certain expressions linked to the World Cup, such as "Road to the World Cup," "On the Way to the World Cup," or "Live the World Cup Experience," especially when used for advertising purposes or together with soccer-related graphic elements.

For this reason, in order to detect these types of infringements, FIFA actively monitors advertising campaigns, social media, websites, influencer activity, and, in general, any commercial activity that involves or references its official trademarks and assets, everywhere in the world, including Uruguay.

Another very important matter relates to FIFA World Cup tickets. Indeed, except with express authorization, it is not permitted to use tickets for admission to the event in commercial promotions, even when those tickets were legitimately purchased.

Regarding copyright, images, videos, goals, or footage from FIFA World Cup broadcasts cannot be used or commercially exploited without the corresponding licenses, since the audiovisual rights belong to FIFA and/or its authorized broadcasters.

Ultimately, the FIFA World Cup offers significant commercial opportunities, but it demands caution. Companies must strike a balance between capitalizing on the interest the tournament generates and respecting FIFA's legitimate rights, which it reserves exclusively for its authorized sponsors and licensees.