Protecting Sports Moves as Motion Marks under Trademark Regime in Special Reference to India

Abstract

For a long time, sportspersons have remained outside the scope of intellectual property protection. This has raised questions about the justifiability and appropriateness of such exclusions in the context of modern-day sports. Legal academia has, time and again, made persistent efforts to introduce the sports moves and performances of athletes to the intellectual property regime. However, the divide in scholastic opinions to date has kept alive the conundrum about the protection of sports moves under the intellectual property regime, thus ushering the need to cater towards such protection under the appropriate intellectual property. This article aims to analyze the viability of extending protection to sports moves through motion marks under the trademark law regime. Due to the dearth of analytical study on this subject area, the present article is a humble attempt to make a notable contribution to the protection of sports moves, keeping in mind the recent developments in the sports industry. Therefore, in light of the same, Part I of this article discusses the interface of sports and trademarks, followed by a brief discussion on registration requirements for conventional and non-conventional marks. Part II focuses on the graphical representation requirement for non-conventional marks, followed by a graphical representation requirement of motion marks in special reference to Indian law. Part III of the article deals with case studies on motion marks in various jurisdictions, succeeded by the application of motion marks' requirements on sports moves, especially in India. Part III concludes the article by reflecting upon the need for the protection of sports moves and the feasibility of giving protection as motion marks.