Athlete Trademark: Protect Your Name and NIL Brand

Your nickname can appear on a jersey, a sponsor's post, and a stranger's merchandise before you have sorted out who controls the brand. An athlete trademark can help protect a name used for goods or services, but name, image, and likeness rights, known as NIL, do not automatically create a federal trademark registration.

What should your brand outlast?

A useful personal brand can extend beyond a particular roster, season, or sponsor relationship. Before a deal depends on your identity, understand which parts you own, which uses you have permitted, and which questions still need counsel.

For related naming issues, read the guide to trademarking a stage name. Athletes and performers share a practical concern: public recognition does not answer every commercial ownership question.

By Kendra Stephen, Esq., trademark attorney and founder of BrandProtector.com.

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This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney advertising.