Focusing on intellectual property in sports sector

“Intellectual Property (IP) and Sports: Ready, Set, Innovate” is the theme of World Intellectual Property Day (April 26) 2026. This year’s theme highlights the role of IP in promoting sustainable and professional sports development while spreading humanistic values across society.

Intellectual property – a vital legal tool

Sports today go beyond competition, intersecting with fashion, entertainment, media, health, gaming, and consumer goods. IP assets such as patents, industrial designs, trademarks, and copyrights encourage innovation and enable cross-sector connections, fostering creativity, technological advancement, and economic growth.

Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology Vo Hoang Khai speaks at the Intellectual Property in Sports Conference in late April 2026. Photo: Hai Quan

World IP Day 2026 celebrates how creativity and innovation, supported by IP rights, help the world of sports thrive, become dynamic, and accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology Vo Hoang Khai shared: In the current context, sports are not merely activities for physical training and high-performance competition but also a rich economic sector, linked to fields such as media, entertainment, technology, commerce, and innovation. Behind every tournament, every sports brand, every modern training equipment, or every sports broadcast program are extremely valuable intellectual assets such as trademarks, copyrights, inventions, industrial designs, digital data, and creative products.

"IP is a vital legal tool to protect creative achievements, promote technological innovation, increase commercial value, and enhance the competitiveness of organizations, businesses, and individuals operating in the sports sector," emphasized Vo Hoang Khai.

According to experts, in the current field of physical education and sports, the objects and types that need to be established as IP are quite diverse and rich, such as: ownership rights over sports events, tournaments, sports media, broadcast programs, digital content, images, videos; industrial property rights, industrial designs, brand and trademark protection for products and goods including: training and competition equipment, clothing, shoes, socks, accessories, gifts,...; ownership rights over inventions, management software, physical education and sports training methods, and healthcare in physical education and sports activities, scientific research programs, data statistics, and physical education and sports indicators.

In response to World IP Day 2026, in late April 2026, the Department of Science and Technology organized a conference titled “Intellectual Property in Sports: A Driver for Innovation and Economic Development.”

At the conference, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Khac Vinh noted that the establishment, protection, management, and effective exploitation of IP assets are urgent requirements in the current period, contributing to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals involved in innovation, creating favorable conditions for ideas to be implemented in practice and to be recognized, promoted in value and effectiveness. It can be said that IP rights are an important legal basis to promote and develop creative and innovative activities in the field of physical education and sports.

Raising awareness of intellectual property

According to many experts, for physical education and sports events, recognizing and protecting the brand value of events and sports competitions will increase their legitimacy and elevate the status of the tournament. When protected by ownership, the organizing units will have a legal basis and greater responsibility in investing and improving the quality of the event, sports tournaments, helping people easily identify and choose to participate in safe, high-quality, and professional sports events and competitions.

Tran Giang Khue, Head of the Southern Office of the National Office of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology), stated that World IP Day 2026 celebrates how creativity and innovation help the world of sports thrive and be dynamic. For IP activities, including in the sports sector, applying intellectual assets creates differentiation and uniqueness, meeting the core values of products and brands to build and develop brands, creating breakthrough and sustainable development…

In Dong Nai, amid a strong push to develop science-technology, innovation, and digital transformation, raising awareness of IP in new fields, including sports, is an essential task. Communications activities and the introduction of IP into the sports sector help raise awareness among agencies, units, businesses, sports clubs, coaches, and athletes of IP's role. They also provide practical information on procedures for registering protection for trademarks, inventions, industrial designs, and copyrights for products, services, and activities related to sports, among others.

Vo Hoang Khai, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology

Nguyen Khac Vinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, added that to contribute to effectively implementing IP protection in the physical education and sports sector, management agencies and news agencies need to strengthen information and propaganda through various forms to raise awareness and responsibility regarding IP in the physical education and sports sector; guide individuals and organizations to carry out the process of establishing and protecting IP, support the implementation of IP activities in practice, helping established and protected IP come into practical life, contributing to the development of the physical education and sports sector...

By Hai Quan-Translated by Mai Nga, Minho