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If you're a fan of fashion or the NBA, you'll definitely know about that iconic brand, Nike Air Jordans. Its namesake, Michael Jordan has been retired for over a decade, but his Jordan brand is still the gold standard in sporting attire. 

And that lucrative name branding is what the Belize Intellectual Property Office (BELIPO) and the National Sports Council want the rising local stars from the different sporting disciplines to start thinking about. They say that Belize's professional athletes are missing out on potential commercial success to turn their fame into possible endorsement deals through image rights and copyrighting. They tell us that the professional athletes don't necessarily have to only depend on their salaries from different professional and semi-professional clubs and teams.

BELIPO and the Sports Council held a forum today at the Biltmore where all the sporting associations and federations were invited to learn about the link between Intellectual Property and Sports. They invited J. Tyrone Marcus, a sport law expert and attorney who practices law in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Barbados, to educate the sports-men on building a brand. 

Here's what they had to say about how Belizean athletes can start taking steps to monetize their image:

Olabimpe Akinkuolie - Deputy Registrar, BELIPO
"Today, we're celebrating the World Intellectual Property Day, and the theme highlighted for today is "Reach for a Gold; IP And Sports Any fan, and I am one in particular [of] LeBron James, I'm identifying with my favourite athletes. So, Immediately, I wanna go on Amazon, and I want to buy his shirt. So, already, his brand, his image, his likeness is already linked to a sport that I like to watch. And I want to to purchase it, so that when I walk around, people can be able to identify that yes, I am one of his fans. So, just that key example, it is connecting intellectual property with sports. Whether it is logo, trademarks, you can come and apply for your logos. You can apply for your slogans. Usain Bolt, the lightning bolt to the world; Michael Jordan. So those are key examples of a trademark links with sports."

Tyrone Marcus - Expert, Intellectual Property In Sports
"A lot of the global stars have been able to understand, Venus and Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Usain Bolt, across the board. They understand the value attached to their brand, and to their popularity, and they're able to earn money from it. The time is ripe for our region to understand, how athletes here can monetize as well too."

"One example I spoke about this morning is a cricketer from Trinidad and Tobago, and the West Indies by the name of Dwayne Bravo. He's a popular cricketer, he's well known as a cricketer. But, what he did is that he sang a song, and of course, there's music attached to the song. So, there is copyright operating. There's lyrics attached to the song, copyright still operating as a literary work. There is a sound recording attached. So, by taking this song, he's is able to actually earn a right from the popularity of the song, and from licensing, getting into copyright licensing agreements, as a result of the copyright with this song. So, this is an athlete singing. And some people don't necessarily think he might be the best singer in the world. But, it doesn't matter. He understands how popular he is, and he was able to use this form of intellectual property to even take his brand further. What that does, and one of the points that I raised that's very important. Our top level athletes in Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, across the region, and across world, they have a very short span to be on the top of their game. So, a part of intellectual property is to helping them to understand, when I stop playing my sport at the highest level, how could I still keep earning money?"

Ian Jones - Director, National Sports Council
"I have learned and understood the value behind image rights and how athletes and sports federations can benefit, and can actually earn revenue. I think everybody in Belize knows that in sports, they always say there is no money in sports. There is money in sports if we understand how. And this is one aspect of it. And I believe that if the federation gain the knowledge, and are educated about it, then they can relay that information to their members, to their athletes. You know, it's seed that we plant today, that we will see benefit from in the near future."

Today was celebrated as World Intellectual Property Day under the theme, "Reach for Gold: IP and Sports".