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Category: Trade Marks

Trade Mark Protection Matters for Football Clubs: How Lincoln City FC Stays Ahead of the Competition

Posted on by Ben Cross

Panoramix IP and LCFC: A Local Partnership with Global Potential

As proud sponsors of Lincoln City Football Club for the 2025/2026 season, we are delighted to support our local team both on and off the pitch. While our banner will be proudly displayed at all home games at the LNER Stadium next season, our partnership runs deeper than a few pitch-side LED displays.

During our initial research on choosing a local sponsorship partner, we discovered that the trade mark for the club’s iconic Imp logo did not yet have a registered trade mark. As part of our commitment to safeguarding brand identity and supporting our sponsorship partner, we were honoured to assist LCFC in registering their UK Trade Mark.

More than just a local business looking to support a Lincoln-based institution, this highlights the growing need for football clubs across the UK, from the Premier League to grassroots organisations, to recognise intellectual property protection as an essential pillar of sustainable growth, commercial success and protection for fans.


Why Must Football Clubs Protect Their Brand Assets?

Firstly, What is a Trade Mark?

For those new to intellectual property assets, a trade mark is a legally registered symbol, word, or phrase that is used to represent a business or organisation. In football, this often includes club logos, nicknames, icons and slogans. These identifiers are crucial components of a club’s brand and identity. For Lincoln City Football Club, the Imp logo is more than just an emblem. It’s a symbol of heritage, pride, and community, an instantly recognisable badge of honour for fans and players alike going back generations.

Lincoln City Football Club has wisely chosen to invest in protecting this logo to secure its future use.


The Risks of Not Registering

Without trade mark registration, clubs leave themselves vulnerable to imitation, unauthorised merchandising, and brand dilution. This can lead to reputational damage, lost revenue, and legal disputes that could easily be avoided, all of which could put clubs at risk.

With increased exposure through broadcast deals, social media, and international fan bases, even smaller clubs are at risk of their identity being copied or misused. Trade mark registration provides legal recourse and deterrent power to protect against such misuse.

How Trade Mark Protection Supports Business Growth

Creating New Revenue Streams

Registered trade marks open doors to licensing and merchandising opportunities. Clubs can grant permission to trusted manufacturers to use their logos on merchandise, ensuring brand consistency while generating revenue for the club. For LCFC, the Imp logo now has the legal foundation to be part of commercial products that support the club financially, especially when used on next season’s new kit design, or any products sold by LCFC, official distributors or licensees with the rights to sell products with the club Imp logo on.

Building Commercial Partnerships

In the modern sports industry, commercial partnerships rely heavily on brand equity. When clubs protect their intellectual property, they become more attractive to sponsors and investors who value brand consistency and legal clarity. Our decision to sponsor LCFC was bolstered by the club’s willingness to take its brand protection seriously, and through a shared understanding of the importance of brand protection through registered trade marks.

International Expansion

We know that football is a sport played, enjoyed and supported globally. Whether clubs are playing international friendlies, selling kits abroad, or engaging with fans online, a registered trade mark, when registered in the appropriate countries and jurisdictions, ensures that the brand remains protected across borders. This is particularly important for clubs like LCFC, which is poised for further growth beyond local boundaries, especially with the introduction of club initiatives like the innovation lab, which is generating domestic and international attention from strategic partners.

Why This Matters to Imps and to all fans of the beautiful game.

Preserving Heritage and Identity

To football fans, like the Imps, a club icon is not just a logo; it’s part of an iconic tradition, a cultural symbol, and a source of lifelong pride (depending on the result). Trade mark protection ensures that club insignia are preserved and safeguarded from misuse or distortion.

When clubs take action to protect their identity, they are also protecting the emotional investments of their supporters. Knowing that the club is actively working to defend its image fosters trust and loyalty within the fan base.

Ensuring Authentic Merchandise

Supporters want to wear their club’s badge with pride, knowing that every purchase supports the team and, with hope, increases their chances of going up next season. Trade mark protection allows clubs to control the production and distribution of official merchandise, ensuring high quality and financial return.

The Panoramix IP Approach to Supporting Football Brands

As an intellectual property law firm with the ability to file directly in the UK, EU, and US, Panoramix IP brings international expertise with local dedication. Our team of dual-qualified solicitors and attorneys work hand-in-hand with clubs to:

  • Audit current brand assets
  • Register trade marks nationally and internationally
  • Monitor and enforce against unauthorised use
  • Advise on licensing and sponsorship agreements

The work we’ve done with Lincoln City Football Club is a shining example of how timely IP protection can add value and security to a club’s operations.

A Call to Action for All Football Clubs

Whether you’re operating in the Premier League or the National League, intellectual property protection should not be an afterthought. It should be integrated into your club’s commercial, legal, and fan engagement and retention strategy from the outset.

Panoramix IP is here to help football clubs across the UK and beyond take charge of their brand identity. If you’re unsure whether your club’s trade marks are up to date or if you have unregistered brand assets in circulation, get in touch with our team for an initial consultation.

Let Lincoln City Football Club’s proactive approach be a model for others. Because protecting your club means protecting your legacy.

5 Benefits of Registering a Trade Mark for your Brand

Posted on by Ben Cross

There are many advantages to securing registration of your business’s trade marks, whether it be your product name, business logo or other distinctive branding that you use, such as a catchy slogan or tagline. Below we list the 5 benefits of registering a trade mark for your brand or business.

This post highlights some of the most important advantages that registration brings:

  1. A registered trade mark will give you an exclusive monopoly over the use of that mark for the goods and services included in your registration, in the country of registration. This means that you can prevent third parties from using an identical or similar trade mark in respect of a similar or competing business, without your consent, unless they started to trade under that mark before you.

 

  1. A registered trade mark is easier to enforce than unregistered trade mark rights, allowing you to bring an infringement action in the courts if someone else starts to use a confusingly similar mark for the same or similar goods and services. If your trade mark is not registered, you would instead have to rely on a “passing off” claim which is harder to establish and prove, requiring evidence of ownership of the goodwill in your trade mark and of damage to your business and/or goodwill as a result of the third party’s unauthorised use.

 

  1. Registration allows you to use the registered ® symbol next to your mark, as long as this is only used in the country of registration and for the goods and services for which your mark is registered. Use of this symbol puts third parties on notice that your trade mark is registered and that they should not use it or a confusingly similar mark. If your mark is not registered, it is a criminal offence to use the ® symbol, and you would instead need to use the unregistered “TM” symbol next to your unregistered trade mark. The ® symbol also shows that your trade mark is valid and that you are its owner, and that its validity can only be challenged through cancellation of the registration on specific grounds, which must be proven at the tribunal or court.

 

  1. A registered trade mark is classified as personal property, which can be commercially exploited as an asset in itself. This means that it can be licensed, assigned and/or used as security for a charge. Your business can use its registered trade marks to gain additional revenue from commercial licensing and other contractual arrangements with third parties.

 

  1. Potential investors or purchasers usually require that any trade marks and other Intellectual Property assets in use by your business are registered before they will enter into a deal with your business or company. This is so that they can be certain that your business actually owns all of the IP that it purports to and that these rights are valid and enforceable. The investors or purchasers will want to have the strongest legal protection possible for your assets, that they can rely on if it later transpires that a third party is in breach of your business’s trade marks or brings a claim of infringement or passing off against your business.

Panoramix IP can assist you with registration of your trade marks and other Intellectual Property assets. We can also conduct a thorough review of your business and trade mark portfolio and work with you in formulating a brand protection strategy that fits your particular business needs. Speak with one of our expert team today and get started on protecting your brand assets in the UK and beyond.

 

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