Key Takeaways

  • You cannot patent a sport itself, but you can protect many aspects surrounding it, including equipment, methods, and branding.
  • Sports equipment, training tools, and digital fitness technologies are all eligible for patent protection if they meet novelty and utility criteria.
  • Intellectual property protections extend to design patents, utility patents, and trade dress in the sports industry.
  • A “sports equipment patent attorney” plays a critical role in filing successful patents and identifying IP opportunities.
  • Proper IP protection can enhance marketability, attract investment, and prevent infringement by competitors.
  • UpCounsel connects you with experienced patent attorneys who specialize in sporting goods and athletic innovations.

Sports Patents Overview

How to patent a sport may not be a question that many people think of, but in the realm of intellectual property, it is a legitimate question, nonetheless. Sports themselves cannot be patented, since they are ideas, and one cannot patent, trademark, or copyright an idea, but there are many aspects of sports that may be patented in accordance with the regulations of the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office.

Types of Patent Protection in the Sports Industry

In the sporting goods sector, several types of patents can protect various innovations:

  • Utility Patents: Cover new inventions or functional improvements to existing sports equipment—such as enhanced grip technologies, shock-absorbing materials, or sensor-embedded devices.
  • Design Patents: Protect the ornamental design of athletic products, such as the shape of a football helmet, a yoga mat’s pattern, or the unique design of a water bottle.
  • Provisional Patents: Offer inventors a 12-month window to test the market or continue development while securing an early filing date.
  • Plant Patents: Rarely relevant in sports, except possibly in turf development or specialized grass seed innovations for athletic fields.

A sports equipment patent attorney can help you determine which category best fits your innovation.

Sports Business and Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) is any creation to which one has the right to ownership, and IP rights are integral to the success of a sport, since they are what secure its economic value, which in turn stimulates a sport’s growth, allowing it to finance large-scale sporting events and promote the sport further. Business transactions involving merchandising, sponsorship, broadcasting, and other media deals help the sport do this, and they all revolve around IP rights.

IP rights include trademark and copyright protection, which in the case of sports, are especially important insofar as they, if leveraged correctly, can help a sport build a strong brand, that is critical to creating business value. A strong brand will create customer loyalty, which in turn allows prices to be kept at a premium, which makes it a strong asset for driving the growth and revenue of a sport. Logo design, equipment design, and the general quality of all things related to the sport, both in the material and presentation sense (broadcasting and viewing experience quality, for example), are all important in building a brand and strengthening the value of a sport thereby.

Key Benefits of IP Protection in Sports

Obtaining patent protection offers several strategic advantages for entrepreneurs and businesses in the sports industry:

  • Market Exclusivity: Patents give you the exclusive right to manufacture, use, and sell your product, helping you stay ahead of competitors.
  • Brand Authority: Protecting your equipment and trademarks helps build a recognizable and trusted brand.
  • Revenue Opportunities: You can license your patents to manufacturers or distributors, creating new income streams.
  • Investor Appeal: A protected idea is more likely to attract funding from venture capitalists or corporate partners.
  • Litigation Leverage: Holding a patent provides legal grounds to stop others from using your technology without permission.

Engaging a sports equipment patent attorney ensures that your IP rights are enforceable and comprehensive.

Patenting a Sport

Although an idea for a sport cannot be patented itself, there are other actions you can take involving patents to ensure that one’s idea is, in a roundabout way, effectively patented. The following steps can help you do this:

  1. First, you should determine if your sport has ever been played before, thereby to determine whether your idea is truly original or not.
  2. If it has, you can have the rules of your sport copyrighted. To do this, you will need to become the author of the rules, which can be done by simply writing them down. Since copyright is immediately established for authors, you do not even technically need to publish your rules, although placing them in some public forum, even on a web page or in a web video, will certainly help strengthen your ownership of them.
  3. If your sport has logos, uniforms, or unique names or terms related to it, these can all be trademarked.
  4. If your sport requires new equipment, that equipment can be patented, so long as that equipment meets U.S. patent requirements. Methods of using the equipment, including methods of play and sporting events, may also be patented.

Patentability Requirements for Sports Equipment

To successfully patent a new piece of sports equipment, the invention must meet specific requirements set by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO):

  1. Novelty: The invention must be new and not previously disclosed in any prior art.
  2. Utility: It must have a specific and practical application.
  3. Non-obviousness: The invention must not be an evident modification of an existing product.
  4. Enablement: The patent application must include a detailed description, allowing someone skilled in the field to reproduce the invention.

A sports equipment patent attorney can guide you through prior art searches and help ensure that your patent claims are clear, enforceable, and strategically worded.

Common Sports Equipment Eligible for Patents

Many types of sports-related products may qualify for patent protection if they demonstrate novelty, utility, and non-obviousness:

  • Wearable fitness trackers, smart shoes, or apparel embedded with biometric sensors.
  • Ergonomically designed sports gear such as bats, gloves, golf clubs, or hockey sticks.
  • Portable training aids and devices that assist with technique, form, or recovery.
  • Modular or collapsible sports equipment (e.g., goals, nets, or home gym units).
  • Safety gear, including protective pads, helmets, and impact-resistant eyewear.

Modern innovations often combine mechanical design with electronic components, so patents might span multiple classifications. Working with a sports equipment patent attorney ensures these complexities are addressed during filing.

Examples of Sports Patents

By U.S. copyright law, almost any aspect of a sport that is not the idea of the sport itself can be patented, or at least have an attempt made to patent it. The following are two examples of this:

  1. Modified Chess Game with Additional Game Pieces. This is the name of U.S. Patent 9643079, which is a variant on the traditional game of chess in which a new piece, called “the beast,” can both block enemy pieces and allow friendly pieces to pass through it or bounce off it (a knight, for example, could change direction mid-move through the beast). This patent was granted because it is qualified as a “new and useful process,” one of the criteria for patent protection.
  2. Fowling. This is the name of a combination of football and bowling, yet its inventor’s attempts to have a trademark affixed to the term “Fowling” have as of yet been unsuccessful. According to the U.S Patent and Trademark Office, the name “fowling” is merely descriptive, thereby not meeting the requirements for distinctiveness and so a trademark cannot be applied. Had a trademark claim been made at the outset, it is surmised that there would have been a stronger case, but since the name was allowed to become what was judged to be a common term, the claim of distinctiveness was weakened.

How a Sports Equipment Patent Attorney Can Help

A qualified sports equipment patent attorney offers specialized insight into both IP law and the sports market. Here's how they add value:

  • Patent Strategy: Advising on whether to pursue utility, design, or provisional patents.
  • Prior Art Searches: Conducting comprehensive research to confirm your invention's uniqueness.
  • Patent Drafting: Crafting detailed claims and descriptions tailored for USPTO approval.
  • Office Action Responses: Addressing USPTO rejections or clarifications with strong legal arguments.
  • Infringement Analysis: Identifying when a competitor’s product may violate your patent.
  • Portfolio Management: Guiding you on how to protect multiple related inventions or enhancements over time.

If you're innovating in the sports industry and want to protect your intellectual property, consider posting your legal need on UpCounsel to connect with an experienced sports equipment patent attorney.

Digital and Technological Sports Inventions

Technology continues to drive innovation in sports. Digital sports inventions can be protected by patents if they involve novel processes or device implementations:

  • Fitness and performance tracking apps that sync with wearable hardware.
  • Virtual training environments using augmented or virtual reality for simulation.
  • Smart equipment with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity to provide real-time performance data.
  • Automated refereeing tools, such as AI-powered tracking for tennis, soccer, or baseball.

Because many of these tools cross into software and hardware, it’s especially important to work with a patent attorney who understands both technology and the sports industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Can you patent a sport or game?
    No, the rules or concept of a sport cannot be patented. However, related equipment, methods of play, and branding elements can be protected.
  2. What types of sports products are most commonly patented?
    Items like training gear, fitness wearables, performance-tracking devices, and ergonomic equipment are frequently patented.
  3. How long does a patent last for sports equipment?
    Utility patents typically last 20 years from the filing date, while design patents last 15 years from the date of grant.
  4. Is a provisional patent enough to protect my sports invention?
    A provisional patent provides temporary protection for 12 months. You must file a non-provisional (full) application within that time to secure long-term rights.
  5. How can a sports equipment patent attorney help with international protection?
    They can guide you through foreign filing strategies, including filing under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), to secure international rights efficiently.

If you need help understanding how to patent a sport, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel’s marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.