KARLSRUHE, Germany, April 28 (UPI) -- The world soccer governing body FIFA suffered a costly setback in Germany, when a court denied the body rights to the German World Cup slogan.
The Federal Constitutional Court, Germany's highest court with seat in Karlsruhe, on Thursday rejected FIFA's attempts to secure a patent on the German-language slogan "Fussball WM 2006" (Soccer World Cup 2006).
In theory, the ruling means FIFA can no longer give its World Cup sponsors the guarantee that no other companies will advertise with the slogan. The court based its decision on the fact that the slogan was a generic phrase referring to a sports event, and not to FIFA.
Several companies, including German food giant Ferrero, had filed suit against FIFA for what they felt was monopolist handling of marketing dealing with the month-long soccer tournament, which Germany will host from June 9 to July 9.
According to Deutsche Welle Online, a Ferrero official said FIFA's argument that the term "World Cup" belongs exclusively to FIFA would be comparable to the Vatican trying to patent the terms "Easter" or "Christmas."
FIFA argues that companies trying to make a profit out of the World Cup without financing it jeopardize the organization of the tournament.
The World Cup has caused emotions to run high in Germany: Berlin hopes the tournament will help bring about an economic turnaround in Europe's largest but ailing economy. Experts expect the World Cup to spark the creation of 30,000 to 50,000 jobs.
