17/11/2004
NEWS STORY
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A couple of years ago, Bernie Ecclestone, and his team of trusty lawyers, were involved in a high-profile campaign to enforce the various trademarks relating to Formula One.
Anyone who dared to name a project that even suggested a tie-in with Formula One, F1 or indeed Grand Prix racing was in the line of fire.
Then Bernie met Nicky.
Nicky Morris, was the founder of F1.com, one of the first Formula One sites on the World Wide Web, and - at the time - one of the best.
With the rest of the sport safe and in the bag, Bernie, having clearly missed the cyber-boat, finally turned his attention to Ms Morris and her website.
Unfortunately, Ms Morris proved to be no pushover, and fought the "little man" on both sides of the Atlantic, refusing to capitulate to his demands. For once in his life Ecclestone was soundly beaten.
Ms Morris, having won her case, eventually sold the site to Mr Burns - sorry Ecclestone - and continued with her other businesses.
Having finally got what he wanted, and realizing that the F1 trademark issue was not as clear cut as he'd once thought, Ecclestone and his lawyers appeared to give up on pursuing those wretched souls that had stolen his property.
Yet Bernie, much like a shark, is constantly moving, slithering through the water, thinking up new deals, looking for ways to thwart those be believes to be ripping him off.
Realizing that in one way or another he owns - OK, his family trust owns 25% and the banks own 75% - virtually everything to do with F1, Bernie wondered if there was any other area of the sport he was missing out on. And then it hit him.
Data.
In recent months, Ecclestone, and his team of trusty lawyers, have been looking at 'securing' Formula One data, such as results and live timing.
Ecclestone is concerned that organizations are using the data without permission and in many cases selling it on, SMS results services being a prime example.
As is the case of any result, be it soccer, F1 or baseball, once the result is public it is public domain, and thereby available to all. The same could surely be said of all statistics.
Exclusively generated data does belong to the creators, but even then this would only appear to cover live timing rather than results, entry lists and historic stats.
As part of the campaign, Ecclestone and his lawyers cited the example of the British Horse Racing Board and Football Association which for some time have been making millions from similar deals, charging companies for use of entry lists and results. Having seen both these bodies rake in the dosh, Mr Excellent thought it high time that he go grab his share.
Sadly, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), has ruled that both the British Horse Racing Board and Football Association, and indeed all such bodies, can only charge for such information where they have made an "investment" in their databases.
Therefore, a race entry list, much like the line-up for a soccer match, only contains information about who is playing, where and when. Consequently no charge can be made for its use.
The case, which has run for four years, came about because both the British Horse Racing Board and Football Association claimed that companies were using their information without paying for it, a claim originally supported by the ECJ's own Advocate General.
The decision is particularly embarrassing for the British Horse Racing Board which has taken action against a well-known bookmaker for listing runners and riders on its internet betting site.
Returning to the subject of trademarks, in F1 these are rigorously applied with precise rules as to how one should refer to the sport.
For example, and this is FOM's own wording;
Only refer to the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP as FORMULA ONE (never F1 nor Formula 1).
You should NOT split up the terms FORMULA ONE nor a company name on to 2 lines (i.e. Formula One Licensing BV or Formula One Administration Limited). After each comma there should be one space, after a full-stop there should be two spaces.