Advantage Federer: who owns ‘RF’?
Probably tennis’s greatest player of all time, Roger Federer is a winning machine, used to getting his own way on court.
But away from the grass of Wimbledon, it emerged during this year’s tournament that Federer was not in control of his own trademarked initials, ‘RF’. Unusually, it might seem, Nike owns the trademark rights, having sponsored the star’s kit until earlier this year.
Now that Federer is sponsored by Uniqlo, he wants Nike to give him the trademark, telling a press conference that “they are my initials” and “the good thing is they’re not Nike’s forever, so in a short period of time they will come to me”.
The issue has shone a light on sports sponsorship agreements, in which IP can play a pivotal role, particularly after the deal has ended.
Alex Kelham, partner at Lewis Silkin, says brands will understandably seek to retain any IP they have created in connection with a partnership, even when this is specific to the athlete, as seen with Federer’s ‘RF’ logo.
“It is a matter of negotiation. The sponsor brand will argue that any new logo or brand they create should be theirs, as they will invest the time and money to create and grow it.
“On the other hand, the athlete will argue that an athlete-specific brand should be theirs to take with them even if they leave the sponsor, since it is personal to them and relies on their goodwill,” Kelham says.
Brands often have the upper hand in sponsorship negotiations, she adds, while players are often poorly advised on their IP rights, “with the focus being on the headline figures of the deal”.
Despite Nike and Federer ending their kit deal, which was reportedly worth $10 million a year, the company still sponsors the star’s trainers.
Zane Shihab, partner at Kerman & Co, says this factor may play a role in Nike’s consideration of whether to hand the ‘RF’ rights to Federer, as “the association remains of great value to Nike and they will not wish to jeopardise that by playing hardball with the ‘RF’ initials”.
For Sarah Macdonald, senior associate at Wiggin, “negative PR is going to be the trigger here”.
