Playing on the Edge of Identity, Commerce and
Intellectual Property Law
Introduction: Branding is More than the
Tangible
The age of digitalisation means that branding no longer remains
in the implementation of a logo, slogan, or product design.
Individual identity and brand identity are merging more and more.
Celebrities, sportsmen, and influencers also exploit their personae
to earn money, performing and selling themselves at the same time.
Can a human body part, a gesture, a posture or even a facial
feature be trademarked? If you thought of the silhouette of Michael
Jordan or the posture of Usain Bolt and his lightning bolt-like
pose, then the answer is yes. What occurs when the human body turns
out to be a commodity per se? It is a legally sophisticated and
philosophically disturbing question: Is it possible to have the
human body as a trademark?1
