On World Intellectual Property Day 2026, the global spotlight is on intellectual property and sports. Sports logos and intellectual property protection represent the most fundamental, widespread, and market-oriented core areas of sports intellectual property, as well as the most practical and research-worthy focus under this year’s theme. In line with the theme of this year’s World Intellectual Property Day, on April 23, King&Capital Law Firm hosted the 2026 World Intellectual Property Day Seminar on Brand Protection for Sports Events and the launch of the *King&Capital White Paper on Intellectual Property Protection for Sports Trademarks*. This event addressed the intellectual property protection of sports events, focusing on event logos and media dissemination from the perspectives of trademark and copyright law. At the conference, attorneys Liu Xiaojuan, Han Libin, Bai Mei, and Yu Yamin delivered practical and professional keynote speeches.
Attorney Liu Xiaojuan shared insights on the legal protection of sports event logos, focusing on their core commercial value, with content that combined theoretical depth and practical value. The presentation centered on the theme of “multi-legal coordination and administrative-judicial synergy,” supported by analysis of typical cases. She systematically outlined the five major protection frameworks established by laws such as the Trademark Law, Copyright Law, Anti-Unfair Competition Law, and the Regulations on the Protection of Olympic Symbols, clarifying the applicable scenarios, boundaries, and practical characteristics of each regulation. At the same time, she analyzed high-profile cases involving malicious squatting, new forms of infringement, misuse of special symbols, hidden marketing, and criminal liability. By closely integrating industry realities with judicial practice, she provided professional guidance for compliance protection and risk prevention in the field of sports symbols.
Attorney Han Libin centered his presentation on Article 52 of the new Sports Law, clearly defining core concepts such as sporting events, event programs, broadcast footage, and broadcast rights, and highlighting the two key characteristics of these rights: temporality and exclusivity. At the same time, he analyzed prominent issues prevalent in the industry, such as unauthorized broadcasting, short video piracy, ambiguous rights definitions, and inconsistent rulings in similar cases. Combining judicial practice with industry data, he provided an in-depth interpretation and proposed a comprehensive protection strategy that integrates the Sports Law, the Copyright Law, and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law.
Attorney Bai Mei’s presentation closely aligned with the theme of World Intellectual Property Day 2026, systematically outlining the cross-border protection framework for sports event trademarks. She focused on trademark globalization strategies, detailing mainstream protection pathways such as single-country registration, the Madrid System, and regional registration. By integrating the full lifecycle of an event, she developed a tiered protection strategy covering pre-event, during-event, and post-event phases, emphasizing the importance of early-stage planning. At the same time, drawing on typical cases such as the FIFA-Puma dispute, MotoGP’s cross-border rights enforcement, and the exploitation of Olympic traffic, she analyzed industry hot topics including cross-border infringement, false association, and platform regulation. Referencing international rules such as the Nairobi Treaty, she highlighted the significant value of proactive protection.
Attorney Yu Yamin closely aligned her presentation with the theme of “Sports + Cross-Industry Integration,” clearly addressing new scenarios and challenges in tourism, cultural and creative industries, digital collectibles, and data development. She first elaborated on the current status and challenges of intellectual property protection in the context of cross-industry integration within the sports industry, covering aspects such as the legal framework, core intellectual property rights, and strategic planning. Drawing on practical cases from the Suqian Municipal Sports Bureau regarding the standardization of event logos and the opening of commercial operations, she further analyzed integration models between the sports industry and sectors such as fashion, entertainment, health, gaming, and consumer goods, exploring how sports intellectual property can empower industrial upgrading and support urban brand building.
Attorney Huang Yajun, Senior Partner at King&Capital Law Firm, delivered the closing remarks for the event, offering incisive commentary on the presentations by the four speakers. She noted that intellectual property protection for sports events has transcended the traditional model of single rights, single domains, and single regions, gradually evolving into a multidimensional development framework characterized by legal coordination, cross-border governance, and industrial integration. Currently, sports IP operations face multiple challenges, including the coordination of multiple regulations, insufficient law enforcement collaboration, lagging regulatory improvements, cross-border trademark risks, and a lack of cross-sectoral strategic planning. These challenges underscore the necessity for legal safeguards to keep pace with commercial innovation and globalization. She stated that the core of future sports intellectual property protection lies in establishing a collaborative system across administrative, judicial, customs, and industrial sectors to build a comprehensive protection mechanism, thereby making intellectual property the core driving force behind enhancing event value and developing city brands.
To translate this consensus into a practical guide, following the conclusion of the seminar, Attorney Liu Ming, Managing Partner of the Intellectual Property Department at King&Capital Law Firm, announced that the *Kyoto White Paper on Sports Trademark and Intellectual Property Protection* will be released shortly, and the public is invited to look forward to it.
