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Feel Free To Use The Phrase "Fussball WM 2006" All You Want

from the trademark-tiffs dept

Thu, Apr 27th 2006 4:43pm — Carlo Longino

Let's hope the organizers of this summer's World Cup do better at putting on the tournament than they've fared in court. Last week, they lost a case in which their ban on the resale of tickets was overturned (so take that, Bob Geldof), and now they've lost a bid to trademark "Fussball WM 2006" in Germany, which translates as "Football World Cup 2006". The sport's governing body, FIFA, wanted to the trademark so only its official sponsors could use the phrase, but that's now impossible, at least in Germany. Large events like the Olympics always seem to horse-trade with governments, dangling the promise of huge economic benefits in front of them, then demand ridiculous levels of "protection" for their trademarks and sponsors -- protection they don't deserve, any more than any other entity. So it's nice to see some of the more ridiculous claims get smacked down by the courts.

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18 Comments

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FIRTS POSTER, 27 Apr 2006 @ 5:40pm

FIRST POST
Down with the illuminati
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FIRTS POSTER, 27 Apr 2006 @ 5:40pm

FIRST POST
Down with the illuminati
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2006 @ 6:01pm

What the hell does the Welt Meisterschaft have anything to do with Tech news?
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Illuminati, 27 Apr 2006 @ 6:49pm

Shhh
Shhhh...
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widow's son, 27 Apr 2006 @ 8:05pm

is there no help
for me?
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drknkook, 27 Apr 2006 @ 9:31pm

Re: is there no help
yes, i have to agree. what the hell does a court ruling have to do with tech??
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James, 27 Apr 2006 @ 9:51pm

World Cup
The thing that is different about the world cup to olympics, is you actually can make money off of a world cup.

Instead of building a stupid ice schute for 90 million dollars that only 60 people will use, you may have to build a stadium or two that will be around a long time.

Most of the countries that host it already have the infrastructure in place.
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throbi, 27 Apr 2006 @ 11:06pm

Re: Re: is there no help
I agree! I am too narrow-minded for this stuff, I only understand digital!

I wonder why I don't have a girlfriend...
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Mike (profile), 28 Apr 2006 @ 2:44am

Re: Re: is there no help
yes, i have to agree. what the hell does a court ruling have to do with tech??

We cover business and technology issues, with a large focus on intellectual property issues -- of which this is an important one.
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PopeRatzo, 28 Apr 2006 @ 3:35am

Why should they get to call it "football" at all? They don't wear helmets or pads or anything, and they don't have touchdowns or 350lb defensive linemen.

Bunch of guys in short pants and knee socks, you ought to call it "sissyball".
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2006 @ 4:39am

Soccer was called football in Europe before American football was a twinkle in your great grandpappy's eye
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fussball fan, 28 Apr 2006 @ 5:11am

Re: sissyball
I am sorry to see that you don't have a clue! In case you didn't know, it's the world's most favorite sport for one and much more interesting than football, baseball, basketball any time. You ought to watch the worldcup to be better informed. Now I have probably offended a whole bunch of people :) Have a great day!
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My other PC is a 386, 28 Apr 2006 @ 5:24am

Soccer/Football/Fussball
Rugby, Football [Soccer if you must], American Football all originated from the same sport.

In 18th century (and before) Britain- they used to play a game where two villages would have an object and have to get it back to their village.

Every region had it's own rules- In some places you could carry the ball- in others only kick it- in some you could punch the crap out of everyone in your way... the game became different- everyone called it football. It eventually evolved into being played on pitches- and rules were better defined.

In England the game became Rugby and modern day Football... In America, immigrants turned it into American football.

At one point to avoid confusion back in England they decided to give the two major branches different names- Rugby Football for the rules formalised in Rugby- Association Football is what we call football today.

Association Football was a league (nicknamed soccer) with it's own rules. Eventually it went belly up and now we have FIFA, the FA, and a different governing body.

It is as incorrect to call football "soccer" (soccer was a league that doesn't exist any more) as it would be to call all American Football "Arena Football".

You don't call an NFL match Arena Football because that isn't the governing body or league of the NFL... for the same reason Football is NOT soccer.
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marketing-blog.biz, 28 Apr 2006 @ 5:28am

We´ve just begun to use "Fussball WM 2006" for our blog
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2006 @ 6:36am

Re: Soccer/Football/Fussball
Interesting. Thank you for the sports history information. As an American, I cannot be certain why Futbol/Soccer/FIFA/FA/etc never caught on, but there is certainly MUCH LESS enthusiasm for it than the other "American" sports. The only real benefit I see for World Cup stuff, is that it tends to end on time. American Football is at the mercy of clock stoppage, time outs, and (more importantly) beer commercial breaks. It appears to be much more of a commercial/entertainment enterprise in its focus. Many "soccer" matches only muster the occasional rotating graphic in the corner for sponsorship. How do they actually make money on this again?

And another thing. Even though I'm American, I always thought it was more logical to call "soccer" Football than the American version, where feet are used only for kickoffs, punts, and field goals. Heck, even Rugby uses feet more often than that! But I suppose "entertainment-platform-for- pushing-adult-beverages- using-scantily-clad-women-ball" was either already taken, or too hard to remember!
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cjay, 28 Apr 2006 @ 8:08am

Re: Re: Soccer/Football/Fussball
They get away with less commercials because the jerseys are covered with them. Each team is a walking billboard to make up for less airtime on sponsors.
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Online, 11 Oct 2010 @ 1:49pm

Hi
Nice blog
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