TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Intellectual property protection in sport

Intellectual Property Director General Freddy Harris (Courtesy of DJKI)The 2018 Asian Games, Asia’s biggest sporting event, is taking place in Indonesia after last being hosted by the country in 1962

The Jakarta Post
Sat, August 18, 2018

Share This Article

Change Size

Intellectual property protection in sport

Intellectual Property Director General Freddy Harris (Courtesy of DJKI)

The 2018 Asian Games, Asia’s biggest sporting event, is taking place in Indonesia after last being hosted by the country in 1962.

As the host, Indonesia has made a range of preparations from infrastructure development to promotion of the event — a vital element of the sporting extravaganza.

Intellectual property in the area of copyright, including logos and mascots, is another important part of the Games.

The development of the Games’ mascots and logo, which carries the theme “Energy of Asia”, was a long process that involved many local design agencies. The Asian Games mascots — Bhin-Bhin, Kaka and Atung — are found in many places in various forms, such as statues, printed media and online. The logo and mascots also adorn mass produced products such as T-shirts, merchandise, key chains, miniature models and so forth, which are available for the public to purchase.

The copyright and rights-related systems also include protections against the rebroadcasting of the event and help faciliate television and other media coverage. As such, media and television organizations must spend substantial funds to secure the rights to broadcast the Games.

Sport events are something that that can unite people, and sports such as soccer and badminton are followed by large numbers of fanatic supporters, which has seen many companies vye to become sponsors of the Games.

The Games have proven successful in garnering sponsorship from many companies eager to introduce their respective brands to a wider market. For example, the Indonesian Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) has officially collaborated with Li-Ning to provide official apparel for the Indonesian contingent at the Games. Li-Ning will provide apparel for althetes in all sports.

Indonesia, through the Intellectual Property Directorate General, has also become a member of the Madrid Protocol, which allows national producers to register their brands and secure protections from a number countries with greater ease.

For the last few decades, a number of national producers have started marketing their products internationally, including Astec (badminton), Polygon (cycling), League (footwear), Specs (footwear) and so on. With international protection of their brands, producers can develop their business and products with peace of mind.

Innovation is closely related to the world of sports.

Many companies have raced to create new innovations in sports equipment, enabling them to compete in the market and increase consumer trust in their products. For example, Yonex, a market leader in badminton equipment from Japan, patented its innovation for rackets in Indonesia in 1995.

Apparel producers have also raced to patent their innovations. Nike created Dri-Fit, a microfiber with that draws sweat from the body to keep athletes comfortable. The material has been developed with ventilation zones to enable air circulation to keep athletes dry and cool.

The government is also expected to encourage universities and research institutions to continue innovating and to make it easy to apply for patents. The Nopember 10 Institute of Technology (ITS) is one such university that has patented a sport product. ITS patented a bicycle with a frame that can be adjusted for different purposes, such as racing, mountain biking and leisure.

The protection of intellectual property is crucial to the growth of a range of fields, including the development of sporting equiptment. Innovation and creativity needs to be supported by intellectual property protections in the areas of copyright, industrial design, branding and patenting.

The intellectual property protection system has played a significant role the Games in Indonesia and willl be of considerable importance to the country’s economic development.

“Sports content is among the most valuable globally and is something you want to be able to see live,” said INASGOC president Erick Thohir.

He added that CCTV in China wanted to “send 300 journalists and show 12 hours of live coverage from the Game each day. It will be good publicity for Indonesia and for tourism,” he said.

“The Asian Games is not only important for national branding but will also have a postive economic impact in the future,” he said.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.