Football Manager & Man United - how IP connects the virtual and real football worlds

Whether virtual or real world, football is a global business, and a hugely successful one.  In 2018-2019 Deloitte estimated[1] that the big five European leagues generated over £15 billion in revenue, whilst by 2016 EA had sold 150 million copies of its FIFA series.

The relationship between the real and the virtual is of course symbiotic. The love of both football and your team inspires the desire to re-live the game through your PlayStation or use your iPad to manage your club’s rise from the basement of the football league to European glory.  But as football games strive to be ever more detailed and realistic in order to appeal to the fan and football clubs seek to further commercialise their brands there is an inherent tension built into the relationship.

This tension is played out through intellectual property rights and is bubbling over in a trade mark dispute between Manchester United and SEGA/Sports Interactive’s Football Manager game.[2]  In seeking to protect the enormous value in its brand and those that pay for the right to use it Manchester United is asking the English court to stop SEGA[3] using ‘Manchester United’ or its club badge in its games. In fact, Manchester United may be hoping to stop SEGA from not using its club badge, but more on this double-negative below.  This article reviews the case to date and its potential implications for the industry.  Specifically, it looks at:

• Background
• Key elements of the infringement claim:
  • The value in the name (Manchester United) and the crux of using it in a trade mark sense;
  • The claim for not using the club crest (the absence of a logo);
  • Facilitating third-party developers in selling ‘mods’ (and the decision in early June);
• Potential outcomes and what they may mean for the industry