Business-savvy Mbappe tops the trademark chart

BRUSSELS — It's hard to say with certainty whether Kylian Mbappe is ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in their battle for the honorific title of "best player in the world".

But ahead of his expected move to Real Madrid, Mbappe is already leading the pair of multiple Ballon d'Or winners when it comes to intellectual property protection.

In a sign of his immense commercial power, the PSG striker owns seven EU trademarks, including his iconic cross-armed goal celebration pose, his name and the logo of his company. According to the European Union intellectual property office, Messi and Ronaldo each have six trademarks registered.

Mbappe has also registered two of his famous quotes — "Le football, il a change (Football has changed)" and "Moi, tu m'parles pas d'age (You don't talk to me about age)" for products including electronic games, mobile apps, posters, handbags, footwear, cosmetics or jewelry.

An EU trademark gives exclusive rights in all EU countries, a market of almost 500 million consumers. It also protects owners against counterfeiting and fraud.

The EU body said Mbappe filed two more applications in February. He is topping the list of EU trademarks owned by soccer players.

Mbappe's "Football has changed "quote went viral on social media two years ago. The business-savvy Frenchman uttered it during a news conference after he was asked on image rights and sports sponsorship following his refusal to take part in a marketing event with the French national team.

While registering trademarks is not unusual in soccer, women's players are, however, invisible in the European IP protection sphere.

"While many of the professional football players in the top European teams own at least one EU trademark, there are no women among them," the EU office said. "Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati, Marta, Alex Morgan, Caroline Graham…they are all stars but they have not yet started to play the IP game."

When it comes to clubs, "the king of Europe is Real Madrid", the EU office said. The Spanish giant owns 33 EU trademarks and 24 designs — among them, the shape of the benches' seats at the Bernabeu.

Madrid's archrival Barcelona owns 22 EU trademarks and seven designs. Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United complete the European top five.

Among PSG's trademarks, there's the sound bite "Ici c'est Paris (Here it's Paris)", which was recorded directly from the supporters' chants, the EU office said, adding that all the major leagues in Europe own several EU trademarks and designs to protect their logos, names and the shape of the trophies. Outside the 27-nation bloc, Major League Soccer in the United States owns several EU trademarks.

Agencies Via Xinhua