Background

The name ‘Cole Palmer’ will strike fear into the hearts of many football supporters. At just 22, Palmer has recorded 36 goals and 18 assists in the Premier League and his tenacity to terrorise defenders has earned him 11 England caps in his football career.

But what is Palmer synonymous for? Well, if you’ve been sitting in the stands as the roar of the opposing fans signals a last-minute winner, you might see Palmer dancing to the touchline enacting his trade mark ‘shivering’ celebration. That’s if you hadn’t already headed for the exits.

Palmer’s celebration and his pseudonym, COLD PALMER, have become so iconic that he has applied to register his celebration, as a motion trade mark, at the UK Intellectual Property Office. But how is this possible?

In the UK, registered trade marks protect the goods and services of one undertaking from the goods and services of other undertakings. Registration provides business owners with enforceable rights that can be used as an effective weapon to preserve business identity and prevent dilution in the marketplace. Whilst words and logos are the most commonly registered trade marks, UK law also allows, in certain circumstances, for non-traditional trade marks to be registered, such as motion trade marks.

Non-traditional signs – motion trade marks

A motion mark consists of a movement or a change in the position of the elements of the mark. Since 2019, UK law has moved away from the requirement for motion marks to be illustrated graphically and applications can now submit a motion mark in a multimedia file.

Motion marks are in principle subjected to no stricter test of distinctiveness than more commonly registered trade marks. However, in practice, it is more difficult for motion marks to be registered as consumers are generally assumed not to associates these types of marks as distinguishing the commercial origin of goods and services.

Cole Palmer’s application

Palmer’s shivering celebration covers an extensive range of goods and services such as soaps, razor blades, coffee, alcoholic beverages, jewellery and vehicles.

Registration will grant Palmer the exclusive right to commercially exploit his celebration. It would also mean Palmer would be able to challenge the unauthorised use of his shivering celebration by third party traders in the marketplace.

But can he stop other Premier League footballers from adopting his iconic celebration?

Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) regularly adopts his own shivering celebration and at the 2025 World Darts Championship, as did Rashad Sweeting while sending fans into delirium in his first-round match after hitting a 180.

For a trade mark to be infringed under UK law, use by a third party must be in ‘the course of trade’ such as:

• Affixing it to goods or the packaging thereof
• Offering or exposing goods for sale, putting them on the market or stocking them for those purposes under the sign, or offering or supplying services under the sign
• Importing or exporting goods under the sign
• Using the sign on business papers or advertising

Mere use as a sporting celebration is very unlikely, if not impossible, to constitute trade mark infringement.

What’s also noteworthy is that other than the mark being a black and white representation of Palmer performing his shivering application, the application includes the following mark description:

‘’Registration of this mark shall give no right to the exclusive use of a sign comprising any person other than the person shown in the motion mark, or a representation or lookalike of the person shown in the motion mark, making the movement shown in the motion mark.’’

Does this mean protection is pretended to prevent only, say, doppelgangers of Palmer from using the shivering celebration?

It begs the question as to why a motion mark of an AI-generated human wasn’t filed which might confer broader protection of the mark to prevent third parties from using any identical or similar marks.

Future outlook

Palmer’s motion mark application marks an increasing development in the number of sporting professionals seeking registration for iconic celebrations – did someone say ‘Siuuuu (Cristiano Ronaldo)’?

This example underlines the growing importance of personal brands to athletes and the opportunity for clever commercial exploitation of intellectual property rights to navigate a crowded sporting marketplace. It is certain that in the modern era, legal protection of non-traditional trade marks is increasingly valuable to gaining and preserving a brand’s reputation.

At the time of writing this article, Palmer’s motion trade mark is still under examination by the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office. This is certainly one to keep an eye on.

If you would like to know more about protecting your brands, please get in touch with one of our trade mark attorneys.