IP and Sports: Ready, Set, Innovate
World Intellectual Property Day 2026 is a unique opportunity to recognise the contributions made by inventors and creators around the world and to celebrate how creativity and innovation, backed by IP rights, keep the world of sports thriving, dynamic and accessible for everyone, everywhere.
This year’s World IP Day theme is IP and Sports: Ready, Set, Innovate.
Sports aren’t just about the game — they intersect with fashion, entertainment, media, health, gaming and consumer goods. Behind every new piece of equipment, performance technology, training method, team identity and broadcasts of sporting events, lies intellectual property (IP) — protecting ideas, rewarding creativity and encouraging further innovation. IP protections help ensure that inventors, designers, athletes and organisations can continue to invest in pushing sporting boundaries.
Ireland has a proud tradition of sporting creativity and innovation, with sporting bodies such as the GAA, FAI, and IRFU using trade marks to protect brands, safeguard team names, logos and slogans. Copyright law protects the broadcasting and recording of sports events by granting owners exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and publicly perform their content. Ireland also has a dynamic sports tech sector, with Irish companies such as Kitman Labs, Orreco, Output Sports and Danu Sports creating their own technologies for wearables, movement tracking, virtual experiences, health testing and performance data.
Supported by sustained investment in research and development, Irish sports tech firms collectively hold nearly 90 active or pending patents, covering wearable devices, augmented reality, diagnostic and exercise equipment and equine health, highlighting Ireland as a global leader in sports tech innovation, blending its diverse sporting landscape with a tech-enabled ecosystem.
This World IP Day, we honour the creators, inventors and entrepreneurs whose passion and ingenuity are redefining the future of sport, powering innovation, elevating performance and building a more sustainable industry.
More information on how to protect your intellectual property rights can be found on the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland website.
Further information on World IP Day can be found on World Intellectual Property Day - April 26, 2026.