What's in a name? Trade marks & 'Brand Beckham'

The biggest celebrity news story this week has certainly been the supposed Beckham family feud, following Brooklyn Beckham's statement via Instagram that he does not wish to reconcile with his parents. As part of this, Brooklyn states that he was "repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name".

As this BBC article rightly points out, it is not clear exactly which rights Brooklyn is referring to but we might assume that, given the clear value, investment, reputation and importance of the various BECKHAM trade marks, the owners of these trade marks are perhaps understandably keen to ensure that no-one else can benefit from them. Various members of the Beckham family and associated businesses hold registered trade marks featuring BECKHAM across a wide range of goods and services, dating back as far as 2000. 

In particular, in 2016, an EU trade mark was registered for BROOKLYN BECKHAM, owned specifically by “Victoria Beckham, as parent and guardian of Brooklyn Beckham”. One might say that Brooklyn therefore does not own the rights to his name. To draw a comparison with this situation, other famous examples of individuals not owning the rights to their name include fashion designer Karen Millen, who was prevented from using her own name after she previously assigned all rights to a third party following the sale of her fashion business. Similarly, Chelsea Football Club held a trade mark for JOSE MOURINHO which meant that, upon his move to Manchester United, that club could not use his name to sell any club merchandise, as Chelsea still held the trade mark. Third party ownership of your name can therefore present a minefield in terms of trading and doing business. 

Trade marks are enormously important and valuable brand assets. Whilst they usually form only a small part of a much wider consideration as to the value of a brand, in this case perhaps the so-called ‘Brand Beckham’, their significance should not be underestimated. 

Brooklyn also alleged that his parents had "repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name", weeks before the ceremony.

www.bbc.co.uk/...