Jose Mourinho’s contract negotiations to become the next
manager of Manchester United appear to hinge on the rights to the use of his
image on merchandise, British media reported on Thursday.
The rights are owned by his former club Chelsea and, while
they are not expected to stop his hiring, they have drawn out the talks with
Manchester United this week, the reports cited club sources......
as saying. Mourinho
was the manager at Chelsea before his sacking in December and the shop at the
Blues’ Stamford Bridge ground still sells mugs, posters and phone cases bearing
his image. The Guardian newspaper reported that the west London club bought the
image rights in 2005 during his first stint as manager, and wants to sell them
at a high price. Chelsea registered the brand “Jose Mourinho” for five types of
merchandise until 2025 and for the others until 2023 under European Union
intellectual property laws, the report said. Chelsea have not commented on the
information but the rights issue was no impediment to Mourinho going on to work
at Inter Milan and Real Madrid before coming back to Stamford Bridge.
Sports
lawyer Carol Couse told the BBC it was “really unusual” for an individual not
to own the trademark to their own name. “If United had a brand of Mourinho
clothing, it would be in breach of the trademark Chelsea currently own,” said
Couse, of law firm Mills and Reeve. “If Chelsea didn’t grant a licence, every
time United used Jose Mourinho’s name in a commercial capacity against those
products, Chelsea could sue Manchester United,” she said. “I would suspect
United would rather just pay a licence fee.” Meanwhile, Manchester United
midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger said he was excited by Mourinho’s expected
arrival at Old Trafford. “We don’t know who will be our new manager yet, but it
looks like it’s going to be an interesting derby in Manchester next season,”
the Germany captain said, with Pep Guardiola arriving as manager of United’s
rivals Manchester City.
“The enthusiasm for football in Manchester is great
and, if Mourinho does take over at United, I think all of the players want to
train under him so it’s going to be quite a special season.” When Mourinho was in
charge of Real Madrid and Guardiola running their sworn enemies Barcelona, the
Portuguese never missed an opportunity to take a swipe at the Spaniard. City
finished last season in fourth place ahead of fifth-placed United on goal
difference, keeping the Red Devils from qualifying for the lucrative Champions
League. The failure to join Europe’s elite next season cost Louis van Gaal his
job as United manager, despite winning the FA Cup in his last game in charge.
source: vanguard
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