Lionel Messi can trademark name for sports goods, says EU court

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, the record four-time world player of the year, won a European Union court challenge over the trademark rights to his own logo, defeating a Spanish cycling clothing maker who owns the name Massi.

The soccer “player’s fame counteracts the visual and phonetic similarities” with the other brand, the EU General Court, said in a decision in Luxembourg on Thursday.

The EU judges said Messi should get the EU trademark for the logo, which consists of an emblem with an M, with the name Messi underneath.

The soccer player has fought since 2011 to get the EU trademark rights