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ShattaCleve
New Member
USA
73 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 07 2001 : 1:37:38 PM
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Company gets shirty over Zidane rights
MADRID, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Real Madrid are set to become embroiled in a legal battle over the sale of shirts bearing the name of their world record signing Zinedine Zidane.
Whose shirt is it anyway?
(Photography/Allsport)
Litigation is looming after a Spanish company claimed they had patented the rights for the use of the French international player's name in Spain.
'We registered the name for the purposes of clothing production with the Spanish patents office last year, well before he signed for Real Madrid,' the lawyer for the Riojana Fundacion 2000 company, Javier Goni, told Spanish radio station Onda Cero on Tuesday.
'We have asked adidas, the player and Real Madrid to stop the sale of the products. We will give them 15 days to reply and if not we will be obliged to take legal action,' Goni said.
However, Real are confident the company has no rights over the name and will not be able to frustrate their plans to use shirt sales to help recoup the world record fee they paid for the World Player of the Year.
'Legally a company cannot patent a name which is specifically identified with someone else unless they have the prior permission of that person,' Real said in a statement.
'Real Madrid and the player are going to take appropriate legal action to stop the Riojana Fundacion 2000 using the name Zidane.'
The club has predicted they will be able to sell at least 500,000 replica shirts emblazoned with Zidane's name and the number five during each season the Frenchman remains at the club.
Real have released Yugoslav midfielder Perica Ognjenovic from his contract.
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