Over 11,000 sports trademarks registered as IP drive expands national innovation efforts
Iran has registered 248 sports-related inventions, 136 industrial designs and more than 11,180 athletic trademarks, the head of the country’s Intellectual Property Center said on Saturday at a World Intellectual Property Day ceremony in Tehran, highlighting robust innovation capacity in the sector.
The April 26 event, held in line with the 2026 global theme linking intellectual property to sports, underscored the role of legal protection in advancing innovation, competitiveness and knowledge-based growth across health and athletics industries, IRNA reported.
Hassan Babaei, head of the State Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties, said Iran’s IP authority has expanded its footprint in recent years under national legislation, reporting 10,996 domestic patent filings and 188 international patent registrations in the past year. He added that 26,140 domestic trademarks were registered alongside 5,448 industrial design filings, signaling steady activity across key IP segments.
“Iran is consistently recognized among leading countries in intellectual property,” Babaei said, noting accession to 11 international conventions, including the Strasbourg Agreement on patents. He said further alignment with global frameworks remains on the agenda.
Babaei called for streamlining procedures to narrow the gap between patent applications and final approvals, describing it as a “critical” bottleneck. He also urged innovators to leverage trademarks and industrial designs alongside patents to accelerate commercialization and job creation.
Siamak Eslami, head of the Intellectual Property Center, said intangible assets now account for a rising share of global output, citing estimates that IP-linked assets exceed 11% of global GDP, or about $7.6 trillion. He stressed that legal protection transforms ideas into economic value, but “registration alone is not enough.”
Iran ranks second globally in trademark registrations and 14th in patents and industrial designs on a per capita basis, Eslami said, adding that a new industrial property law adopted in 2024 is set for full implementation in 2027 to ease procedures and strengthen commercialization pathways.
Fariba Mohammadi, head of the Research Institute of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, said global sports-related inventions grew by 7.6% in 2025, outpacing overall invention growth of about 4%. She noted that while Iran’s innovation has focused largely on physical equipment, future gains hinge on data-driven technologies, smart systems and advanced materials.
The ceremony also honored inventors, including teenagers aged 13 to 18, for contributions to sports innovation.