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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barry Glendenning

Cole Palmer v French vineyard is football’s latest random trademark battle

Cole Palmer celebrates.
Ice pops, air conditioning, draught excluders: a few more market ideas for Cole Palmer, there. Photograph: Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Richard Sellers/Apl/Sportsphoto

SOUR GRAPES

Victoria Beckham taking on and losing against Peterborough United in a battle over the nickname “Posh”. Cristiano Ronaldo trademarking the combination of his initials and shirt number, “CR7”, to boost his brand. Kylian Mbappé nabbing the rights to his iconic crossed-arms goal celebration when it almost certainly would have been far more lucrative to seize ownership of that ubiquitously annoying “cry more” gif so beloved of dullards on several Social Media Disgraces. In a football business already swamped with cash and opportunists eager to get their mitts on as much of it as they can, it ought to come as no surprise that the very top players, clubs and Peterborough try to maximise their income by making their personal “brands” off limits to potential counterfeiters, bootleggers and other ne’er-do-wells.

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