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18 July 2014Trademarks

F1 driver Nico Rosberg forced to change helmet after FIFA complaint

German Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg has been forced to redesign a helmet he planned to wear at his home race this weekend after World Cup organiser FIFA said it infringed its trademark.

The Mercedes driver had planned to wear a helmet with the official World Cup trophy in front of the colours of the German flag during the race at Hockenheim.

But FIFA said it would be an infringement of its IP rights and would jeopardise its partner sponsors.

FIFA owns a series of trademarks including the words ‘FIFA World Cup’ as well as images of the famous trophy.

“A shame; I would have loved to carry the trophy as a tribute to the guys but of course I respect the legal situation,” Rosberg tweeted yesterday, July 17.

Earlier this year, WIPR’s sister publication TBO reported that FIFA had targeted six Twitter users for using the official emblem of this summer’s tournament in Brazil on their accounts.

WIPR was also at the INTA annual meeting in Hong Kong, where FIFA’s legal counsel Daniel Zohny spoke about the organisation’s policy on enforcing IP.

Zohny told delegates that FIFA took a “cautious approach” when looking for cases of infringement but that in a World Cup year there were “tons” of instances.

“A lot of people just do not know that they are not supposed to be doing what they are doing [using a registered trademark or brand],” he said.

Germany won the 2014 FIFA World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Argentina in extra time. The former West Germany won the tournament three times: in 1954, 1974 and 1990.

A FIFA spokesman told WIPR that it was “obliged to take action”.

"We appreciate Nico Rosberg's desire to congratulate the German team and have therefore been in discussions with the Rosberg team to attempt to find a solution whereby he is still able to show his support for Germany without using FIFA IP in a commercial context," he said.

In place of the design, 29-year-old Rosberg has kept the red, yellow and black of the German flag and replaced the trophy with four stars, representing each of Germany’s World Cup wins.

He tweeted a picture of the redesign yesterday.

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