Approximately half the world’s population is female, and smart brand owners have realized they should market to this influential population. Female athletes are an important segment of this consumer demographic. To date, there have been 582 trademark applications that include the terms “female” and “athlete.” However, only 30 of those applications were filed for nutritional supplements.

When examining other possible combinations of words brand owners might use instead of “female” and “athlete,” the term “sport” is exceedingly more popular in nutritional supplement trademark filings as compared to the term “fitness.” Data also shows “woman” is the most commonly used term to describe the gender. In fact, the combination of “woman” and “sport” appeared in 619 nutritional supplement trademark filings. The next most-popular combinations are “woman” and “fitness,” with a mere 160 filings, and “sport” and “girl,” with 102.

Overall, the data show brand owners are targeting the female athlete using words that explicitly show their products are designed for her. As more trademark applications are filed, the available space for new brands shrinks. That is why it is important to consult with trademark counsel before developing a brand in order to create a strategy for finding space in the shrinking world of female athlete brands.

To read the full article about intellectual property (IP) trends for active women’s products, download INSIDER’s Sports Nutrition: The Female Athlete Digital Magazine.

Attorney Andreas Baltatzis is a director at KramerAmado PC (krameramado.com), a boutique law firm specializing in intellectual property (IP).

Gideon Eckhouse is a senior associate at KramerAmado, with more than 10 years of experience in patents and trademarks.