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Intellectual property and the FIFA World Cup – Patents

Posted: December 14, 2022

Football is the most popular sport on the planet, and with that popularity comes opportunity. Companies that manage to get a foothold in the industry have the potential to make a fortune, but to do so they must proactively protect their products and intellectual creations.

One form of protection is through patents, allowing companies to carve out legal protection for their inventions and fend off potential infringers. This protection is essential for companies wanting to capitalise on commercial opportunities in this highly competitive but financially lucrative market. Patents have been filed for all manner of football-related inventions, ranging from football boots to automated offside detection systems, showing that if companies want to succeed in the industry, innovation is key.

The number of free kicks in football matches is on the rise, giving players more opportunities to ‘bend it like Beckham’ and make an impact on the match. The realistic truth, however, is that the success rate of direct free kicks is a measly 8%, so for every goal scored from a direct free kick, there are over 11 misses.

Marcus Rashford’s stunning strike for England against Wales in the group stages was the first direct free kick scored at the 2022 World Cup, coming in the 19^th match of the tournament. By the end of the Round of 16 matches, there had been only one more goal scored from a direct free kick, by Luis Chavez for Mexico against Saudi Arabia (meaning only two goals from direct free kicks out of a total of 148 goals, excluding extra-time penalties).

Thankfully, all is not lost; with frequent and effective free kick training, players can expect a markedly improved success rate, which might just be enough to carry their team to a win.

The question is then – how can teams effectively practise free kicks?

Historically, free kick practice has involved static dummies set up in a wall, with the player repeatedly trying to strike the ball up and over the wall. However, this lacks the dynamism of a real game, where the players that form a free kick wall are of different heights and can jump to block the ball mid-flight. Of course, real players could be used in practice but if a player is practising hundreds of free kicks, it is likely to get a bit tedious for the players in the wall. What would solve this problem is a free kick wall formed of dummies that can replicate the dynamics of a real player.

One solution to this problem is provided by FreeKickPro, who have developed a free kick wall system that allows a user to control the height and dynamics of each dummy ‘player’, offering the free-kick taker the ability to practise in near to real-game conditions. The free kick wall is wirelessly connected to a computer which stores and records free kick data, giving coaches invaluable information that can be applied in-game. This technology is already making headlines and was spotted being used by Real Madrid players in a recent training session, as well as being endorsed by top Dutch team PSV Eindhoven.

Knowing the value of legal protection for their invention, FreeKickPro filed several patent applications for their “Free-kick wall system”. They currently have a granted patent in the Netherlands and a pending application in Europe. Patent protection allows FreeKickPro to stop competitors from using their patented invention and affords them a distinct selling point, giving them a foot up in the market.

It remains to be seen whether FreeKickPro’s free kick wall will become commonplace in the future, and whether this will lead to any improvement in free kick statistics. However, one thing is for certain – if companies want to succeed, innovation is key and obtaining appropriate legal protection is equally as important.