Rachael Lodge Corrie, Partner at Foga Daley, assesses
the current circumstances for protecting celebrity names and their
likeness in the Commonwealth Caribbean spurred by Usain Bolt's
attempt to trademark the "Lightning Bolt".
Earlier last year, the eyes of the IP community were on Jamaican
sprint legend Usain Bolt after it was reported that he filed a
trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for
his "Lightning Bolt" victory pose (Figure 1).
While many were of the view that this was the first time Usain
was applying to trademark this pose, a review of his trademark
portfolio reveals that this victory pose, along with a family of
other "Bolt" related marks have been registered in
numerous jurisdictions worldwide from as early as 2009.
