Former Arsenal Invincible Jens Lehmann pulled a fast one on the North London club. Or did he?
The legendary Gunner officially secured the ‘Invincibles’ trademark for £30,000. The German goalkeeper formally submitted the paperwork in late 2020, before the Invincibles’ 20th anniversary this season. Credit to Jens for thinking ahead and investing the funds and time to nail down the rights—even billionaire Mathieu Flamini must be taking notes.
“I had the idea because the name Invincibles becomes more and more popular approaching the 20th anniversary,” he told Mail Sport. ‘And nobody had it so I was looking into it. I was ready to get the branding rights for our group, so everybody who’s using it is violating our brand.
“Sometimes you have guys from across Europe or Africa or Asia who were using that. They could have done that without permission and named themselves the “Invincibles whatever”. And they can’t do it anymore.
“They (the club) were probably a little surprised because nobody thought about having the brand name registered. At least they know it’s now being controlled.”
No one at Arsenal even pursued the ‘Invincibles’ trademarking registration idea; thus, they remain shocked into silence. At least the deal remains within the Gunner family — imagine if someone at Spurs had done the paperwork.
Lehmann promises to do right by it, though. He’s setting up a company with all Invincible players and the coach—yes, the one and only Arsene Wenger—as shareholders. That 2003/04 team includes the club’s current sporting director, Edu.
“We have 28 players and 12 staff members, which includes the boss [Wenger]. The company has not been set up yet because we’re preparing.
“There will be one or two events here very soon, where we give something back to the people. Everybody will be a shareholder of the company,” explains 54-year-old Lehmann.
An Invincibles documentary, merchandise (which, ironically, the club currently exploits at the store), and a tour are just the start of possible trademark use cases. The savvy German could also pursue Invincibles cryptocurrency or NFTs. According to Lehmann, all profits will go to charity.
Arsenal are on the hunt to secure their first Premier League title in two decades over the next fortnight. Manchester City are a point behind with a game in hand.
Here’s a list of key players from that 2003-04 Arsenal team, famously known as the “Invincibles.” The squad went unbeaten throughout the entire English Premier League season.
- Thierry Henry
- Patrick Vieira
- Dennis Bergkamp
- Robert Pires
- Sol Campbell
- Ashley Cole
- Freddie Ljungberg
- Jens Lehmann
- Gilberto Silva
- Kolo Touré
- José Antonio Reyes
- Lauren
- Edu
- Ray Parlour
- Martin Keown
- Sylvain Wiltord
- Pascal Cygan
- Nwankwo Kanu
- Gael Clichy
- Jermaine Pennant
Photo: x/tosanation + ig/jenslehmannofficial
