Messi can use name as trademark, EU Court rules

Barcelona and Argentina superstar, Lionel Messi can now use his name as a trademark for sports good, a European Court has ruled.

Messi, the current world’s top earning footballer, has been fighting for this for seven years as his original application was challenged by the Spanish cycling brand, Massi.

The cycling brand argued that the names were too similar and would cause confusion.

But the EU’s General Court ruled that the footballer was too well known for confusion to arise.

“Lionel Messi may register his trade mark ‘MESSI’ for sports equipment and clothing,” said the court.

“The football player’s fame counteracts the visual and phonetic similarities between his trade mark and the trade mark ‘MASSI’ belonging to a Spanish company.”

The ruling comes days after France Football magazine reported Mr Messi had overtaken rival Cristiano Ronaldo as the highest earner in football, with an income of €126m.

Mr Ronaldo is making €94m, the magazine said.

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