From cutting-edge equipment and game-changing technologies to inspiring brands and designs, sport is a sector in which Intellectual Property fully plays its role.

Here are some examples of globally well-known Intellectual Property topics related to sports:

Some examples of IP issues related to sports:

• Decathlon’s “Easybreath” mask: a famous EU design whose validity was recently confirmed by the European Union General Court in two judgments handed down on 4 June 2025.
• The power of the PHRYGES from the International Olympic Committee at the Paris 2024 Games. Several IP rights apply to this Olympic mascot, namely: trademarks, copyrights on the original design and the mascots’ motto “Alone, we go faster, but together, we go further,” and design rights to the shape of the Phryges.
• Decathlon’s “2 Seconds” tent, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary: the basic idea was actually conceived in 1970 by an independent American inventor and protected by U.S. Patent No. 3,675,667, which has since entered the public domain without ever achieving commercial success. Decathlon significantly refined this idea and then protected it with four new patent families.

Germain Maureau supports and encourages this global celebration, which pays tribute to the creators, inventors, and entrepreneurs whose passion and ideas are shaping the future of sport, by assisting numerous sports and leisure companies in protecting their Intellectual Property rights and by taking part each year in several inclusive and charitable sporting events: Courir Pour Elles, the Course des Lumières, and World Bicycle and Running Day.

📌 Discover WIPO’s initiatives for World IP Day.