Dear Blaž,
We often tend to assume that FIFA is an
international organisation, with branches everywhere (the four FAs, and the 200
something other federations/associations). The reality is very different: FIFA
is a body of its own, now headquartered in
So:
* Clearly, I cannot see how any
federation / association would have any possibility to act for FIFA (unless
there are agreements we don’t know).
* Also, FIFA does not need to be
registered in a country to be able to defend its intellectual property (IP)
rights in that country; that is what international treaties on IP are for. (In
any case, they could fairly simply register a branch in most countries, if
needs be.)
* The ‘duty’ to report any
ambush activity would need to be a FIFA rule taken by members – why would
they? It would, of course, not be legally binding for the federation /
association either.
* You need to consider whether the
ambush is really to the detriment of FIFA (it isn’t always) and do a cost/benefit
assessment of any legal action.
The FIFA model is very interesting
because it shows some of the problems of a multinational company / franchise (of
a fairly small size), especially when their rules contradict local law. If I am
not mistaken, federations / associations are still strongly discouraged to use
their country’s jurisdictions to solve any problem/issue. This largely
explains why rules which were (and may still be) illegal in many countries (on transfers,
employment contracts etc.) could last for so long.
FIFA is by & large an “Unidentified
Political Object” & an “Unidentified Corporate Object”
which would deserve thorough analysis of its structures, modes of functioning
etc. (I bet they would then appear to resemble most closely international Trade
Unions: cf ICEM, or international industry federations: cf FIIM).
These are just my (very belated)
thoughts. I may be wrong – just let me know.
D.
From:
Sport and the European Union [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Blaž Bolcar
Sent: 24 August 2010 18:13
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SPORTANDEU] ambush
markting; FIFA
Dear All,
I would like to ask you for your opinion
on a problem a bumped into today. When talking to marketing director of
Slovenian Football Federation about SFF taking any action against ambush marketing
activity in Slovenia (i was refering to the ambusher who (ab)use FIFA IP rights
– logos, images, wording), I was shocked that they (SFF) do not take any
action against such activity. Their argument is that they are not authorised to
do anything. My next thought was that they should be at least obliged to report
such activity to FIFA, but once again the answer was negative.
I find it quite impossible to be true,
bacuse if it was FIFA could effectively excercise its anti ambush activity only
in Switzerland. I am pretty much sure that national football federations have a
duty to report all ambush mkt activities to FIFA (and then it is up to them how
will they react – especially about Slovenia which is not a big market).
Does anyone have any experience or
thought about it?
Thank you and have a nice day,
Blaž Bolcar
strokovni sodelavec
Odvetniška pisarna/Law Office Bolcar
Ul. IX. korpusa 46
5250 Solkan, Slovenija
E:
T: +386 40 455 677
F: +386 5 335 13 73
__________________________
To elektronsko sporocilo in vse
morebitne priloge so poslovna skrivnost in namenjene izkljucno naslovniku. Ce
ste sporocilo prejeli pomotoma, Vas prosimo, da obvestite posiljatelja,
sporocilo pa takoj unicite. Kakrsnokoli razkritje, distribucija ali kopiranje
vsebine sporocila je izrecno prepovedano. Ni nujno, da to sporocilo odraza
uradno stalisce druzbe.
This e