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A referee uses the free kick spray (symbolic image)
Photo: Peter Schatz / imago images/ActionPictures
The world football association Fifa has suffered a defeat in the years-long legal dispute over free kick spray. A federal court in Rio de Janeiro rejected FIFA's request to cancel the patent for Heine Allemagne's foam can. The ruling confirms that the invention of the Brazilian Allemagne meets all the requirements to be recognized as his intellectual property.
"This is a victory against the attempt to erase parts of the history of an invention that changed football," said Allemagne after the verdict. "The spray known all over the world is Brazilian, and the judiciary has now made this clear." Since August 2019, FIFA has been trying to challenge Allemagne and his company Spuni's patent law in court because of "insufficient requirements for inventive steps."
The verdict could now benefit Allemagne in another trial against FIFA. Since 2017, the Brazilian has been demanding $40 million in damages from the world governing body for the unauthorized use of the spray. The lawsuit is before the Supreme Court (STJ) for final decision.
FIFA probably offered $500,000 in 2014
Allemagne and the Argentinian Pablo Silva are considered to be the inventors of the free-kick spray, which was used in Brazilian professional football in 2001 to mark the distance between the free-kick wall and the taker. This ensures that the wall actually stops 30 feet from the shooter. The referees used the spray for the first time at a World Cup in 2014.
FIFA is said to have offered $500,000 for the patent a few months before the tournament in Brazil. For the World Cup, Allemagne said it provided FIFA with the spray free of charge in the hope that it would then be considered the official FIFA free kick spray. Instead, a legal battle ensued that lasted for years.
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