The gift by Isidoro Baldari, the councillor of the municipality of Manduria in Puglia, of 73 bottles of Primitivo di Manduria “Rosso Jannik”, complete with a stylised image of the current tennis N. 1 champion Jannick Sinner’s profile, to the municipality of Sesto Pusteria where Mr. Sinners lives, has been  ailed in the l Italian press as a”faux pas”. But is it really an illicit act of unauthorised exploitation of Mr. Sinner’s name and image?

The facts

For Christmas 2024, the municipality of Manduria sent a gift of 73 (the number of Mr. Sinner’s victories in 2024) bottles of Primitivo di Manduria DOC 2021, to the municipality of Sesto Pusteria.. On the back of the label appears Mr. Sinner’s stylised profile, complete with cap, and his first name, “Jannik”. The wine was supplied by the Cantina Produttori Vini di Manduria, and labelled and bottled by Vinerie Baldari, a company owned by the Councillor for Agriculture and Productive Activities, Isidoro Baldari. Objections were immediately raised, both to the appropriateness of the municipality giving away the wine of one of its councillors, to the absence of the obligatory State seal for DOC wines, and finally, and this is of interest to us, to the risks of the unauthorised use of the image and name of a well-known sports personality. The Consortium for the protection of Primitivo di Manduria DOC wine, alarmed, also reported the matter to the ICQRF [Central Inspectorate of Quality Protection and Fraud Repression] and the Cantina Produttori Vini di Manduria (Manduria Winde Producers’ Cellar) sent a warning. In the end, the issue of the lack of the State seal, a mere formal irregularity because the wine is in fact true Primitivo di Manduria, was remedied by the payment of a fine, and Mr. Sinner’s lawyers also informed the Manduria municipality that they would not take legal action.  The world’s No. 1 tennis player, busy with other legal matters, was a good sport about it and, noting the good faith of the initiative, decided to let it go. How would the affair have ended if, instead, he had chosen to take the game to court?

Mr. Sinner’s right(s)  

Being the great strategist that he is, he would have deployed all his winning strokes invoking  the provisions of the Italian Civil Code, the Italian Industrial Property Code and Italian Copyright Law.

First of all, the Italian Civil Code regulates the abuse of a person’s name and image.

Art. 7 of the Italian Civil Code states: “A person whose right to the use of his own name is contested or who may be harmed by the use that others unduly make of it, may judicially request the cessation of the damaging fact, without prejudice to compensation for damages”.

Art. 10 states: “If the image of a person […] has been exhibited or published outside the cases in which the exhibition or publication is permitted by law, or with harm to the decorum or reputation of that person […], the judicial authority, at the request of the person concerned, may order that the abuse cease, subject to compensation for damages.”

Thus, although only the first name “Jannik” was used and although his profile was only stylised, the reference to the athlete is self-evident. Secondly, there appear to be no legitimate reasons to justify the use of his image. Nor could reputational harm immediately be ruled out, since a sportsman might rightly not wish his name to be associated with an alcoholic beverage. Damage, if considered in the form of lost profit for loss of royalties, might have also existed, despite the limited number of bottles.

The first set would have ended with a straight 6-0 for Sinner.

. In addition the  Industrial Property Code regulates both the use of the name of a well-known person and the counterfeiting of a registered trademark.

Art. 8(3) of the Italian Industrial Property Code states: “If well-known, the following may be registered or used as a trademark only by or with the consent of the right holder […]: names of persons, signs used in the artistic, literary, scientific, political or sporting fields […]”.

The economic exploitation of a famous name is thus absolutely reserved to those who have made it so and may well wish to monetise its suggestive value through direct merchandising activities or by granting licences to third parties. It should be noted that this reservation of rights  has no commodity limits and in fact the positive values that the name Jannik Sinner carries transcends the sporting sphere. Authenticity, simplicity, confidentiality, humility, tenacity, linked to immeasurable talent, could be the ingredients of success for any product in the most diverse sectors. So much so that we find him as a brand ambassador for some Italian companies, like the Lavazza coffee as well as the Fastweb ultra-fast fibre and the De Cecco pasta.

This is precisely the interpretation of the Court of Milan, which recognised the violation of the rights to the name of another great sports legend, Diego Armando Maradona, against Dolce & Gabbana who had “paid homage” to him by having a model wearing a T-shirt with the number 10, unequivocally referring to him, parade at San Gregorio Armeno in Naples (judgment No. 11374 of 9.12.2019). 70,000 Euros in damages were awarded in lost profit for the fashion house’s gaffe.

And there’s more. Sinner, who we know leaves nothing to chance, in 2021 at the dawn of his success, proceeded to file  trademarks for  both his full name JANNIK SINNER and a logo in his classic and elegant style (see below), protecting them in all the major markets: from the EU to the USA, from China to Australia covering a wide range of merchandising items, such as sunglasses, video games, leather goods, clothing and sports goods. His merchandise is on sale on the official website https://janniksinnermerch.com/.

True,  his registered trademark, JANNIK SINNERdoes not cover “wine” in Class 33. Nonetheless it may be protected by the provisions of  the Industrial Property Code, reserved for renown trademarks, which are also protected in the case of trademark infringement for goods other than those claimed, if the abuse is likely to be detrimental to the trademark or if the violator takes unfair advantage of the trademark’s reputation.

Art. 20 of the Italian Industrial Property Code states: 1. “The rights of the registered trademark’s owner consist of the right to make exclusive use of the trademark. The owner shall have the right to prohibit third parties from using – without his or her consent – in the course of trade: […] (c) a sign which is identical with or similar to the registered trademark in relation to goods or services, even if they are not similar, if the registered trademark has a reputation in the State and if the use of the sign without due cause takes unfair advantage of, or is detrimental to, the distinctive character or the repute of the trademark or harms them”.

The doubt might arise  on whether the gift from the Municipality of Manduria may be considered an “economic activity” so that one may claim that therefore there was no use “in trade”. It is commonly agreed, however, that economic activity must be understood as any activity, even a merely promotional one, that can bring an entrepreneurial advantage (in this case to the Municipality of Manduria given that )it was used to make an unlikely “twinning” request  with the municipality of Sesto Pusteria).

The second set, therefore, would have been a no brainer; another 6-0 for Sinner.

The third set would have been played out under copyright laws because portraits are  also protected by Italian Copyright Law.

Art. 96 of the Italian Copyright Law states: “a portrait of a person may not be exhibited, reproduced or put on the market without that person’s consent, subject to the provisions of the following article”. Said article provides for certain exceptions where the person reproduced is famous or holds public office and it is necessary to portray him or her for reasons of justice, the police, or for scientific, educational or cultural purposes, but does not permit the use of the image if a promotional or commercial purpose is involved.

None of the exceptions seems applicable to the “Rosso Jannik” case and indeed, just as Dolce & Gabbana intentionally exploited Maradona’s appeal to the city of Naples to promote their clothes, it could be argued that the oenological “homage” to Sinner’s municipality masks a marketing manoeuvre by Vinerie Baldari, the Municipality of Manduria or the Primitivo di Manduria DOC.

And the third set would also have ended with a clear 6-0 for Sinner.

Game, set and match.

But the overall winner is fair play, a fundamental quality of the young Jannik that also guided him in his recent decision to settle his three-month disqualification to end his dispute with the sporting justice system. No winners, no losers, unlike in the field.