Every April 26, World Intellectual Property Day invites us to recognize the role that intellectual property (IP) plays in driving innovation and creativity. This year’s theme highlights the critical role that IP plays in the world of sports.
IP protects the elements that make sports recognizable, meaningful, and commercially viable. Team names and logos, league branding, and official merchandise all rely on trademark protections to ensure authenticity and safeguard brand value. When fans buy their favorite players’ jersey, they expect it to represent something real — not a copy or imitation.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Counterfeit sales continue to run rampant, particularly around large sporting events like the Super Bowl or FIFA World Cup. Stronger legislation — namely, the SHOP SAFE Act — is needed to hold e-commerce platforms accountable for cleaning up their marketplaces and protecting trademark holders and, above all, safeguarding consumers.
IP is just as central to how fans experience and enjoy sports. Broadcasts, highlight videos, and social media content are increasingly essential to the fan experience. Copyright protections ensure that the organizations producing that content can continue to invest in a team or league’s future. Media and broadcasting rights generate billions of dollars in revenue each year, supporting everything from player development to stadium infrastructure and new ways for fans to connect with the game.
Athletes themselves are also part of this evolving landscape. Their influence extends well beyond the field, and so does the value of their identity. Robust IP rights, including rights of publicity, empower professional athletes — and more recently, college athletes — to control how their name, image, and likeness (NIL) are used, giving them a stake in how their personal brand develops alongside their performance. Today, the NILs of admired athletes are increasingly used without permission — often through generative AI — underscoring the need for stronger protections such as the NO FAKES Act. Advancing these protections is essential to ensuring athletes retain meaningful control over their identity in an increasingly digital and AI-driven world.
Patents have long supported progress in sports by protecting the inventions that shape how athletes compete and how games are played. In 1942, John T. Riddell Sr. and John T. Riddell Jr. received a patent for a hard plastic football helmet, a pivotal step in the shift from soft leather headgear to modern protective equipment.
More recently, Nike’s Vaporfly — a shoe made with lightweight foam and a carbon fiber plate — has ushered in a new era of racing footwear. Meanwhile, impact-detecting mouthguards, which made their debut on the world stage during the Women’s Rugby World Cup last year, are revolutionizing concussion protocols.
World IP Day offers a moment to recognize that the sports we follow today — the access we have, the experiences we enjoy, and the innovations we take for granted — depend on far more than what happens on the field.