The battle between Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the prestigious title of “world's best player'' is fierce.
BRUSSELS — It's difficult to say whether Kylian Mbappé is ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the battle for the prestigious title of “world's best player.”
But ahead of his expected move to Real Madrid, Mbappé already leads the two multiple Ballon d'Or winners when it comes to intellectual property protection.
As a symbol of his immense commercial power, the PSG striker owns seven EU trademarks, including the iconic cross-arm goal celebration pose, his name and the company logo. According to the European Union Intellectual Property Office, Messi and Ronaldo each have six trademarks registered.
EU trademarks give you exclusive rights in all EU countries, a market of almost 500 million consumers. It also protects the owner from forgery and fraud.
The EU body announced that Mbappé had submitted two further applications in February. He tops the list of EU trademarks owned by footballers.
Mbappe's words that “football has changed” were spread on social media two years ago. The business-savvy Frenchman made the remarks at a press conference after being asked about image rights and sports sponsorships following his refusal to take part in a marketing event with the French national team.
Trademark registrations are not uncommon in the world of soccer, but female players are invisible in the field of intellectual property protection in Europe.
When it comes to clubs, “the king of Europe is Real Madrid,” the EU Secretariat said. The Spanish giants own 33 of his EU trademarks and 24 of his designs, including the shape of the bench seats at his Bernabeu stadium.
Barcelona, Madrid's biggest rival, owns 22 EU trademarks and seven designs. Bayern Munich, PSG and Manchester United rounded out Europe's top five.
“Among Paris Saint-Germain's trademarks is the soundbite 'Ici c'est Paris' (This is Paris), recorded directly from supporters' chants,” the EU Secretariat said, adding that all major leagues in Europe added that it owns multiple EU member leagues, trademarks and designs to protect the logo, name, shape of the trophy. Outside the 27 countries, Major League Soccer in the United States owns several EU trademarks.
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