Olympic Countdown

Branding and merchandising opportunities - only with great care or under licence.

The enactment of London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 raised eyebrows in IP and marketing circles, due to the strength of the rights it sets up.  The Act strengthens existing legislation that protects Olympic symbols, and establishes a new London Olympics association right.  This new right gives the London Organising Committee power to prevent use of any kind of representations that suggest to the public that there is an association between the London Olympics and an unlicensed party.

In 2006 the games were a long way off, but just as the London Organising Committee is busy constructing a new landscape in the Olympic Park, it is also working to shape the IP landscape.  As well as publishing extensive guidance on what it considers acceptable and unacceptable under the Act (click here), the first reported example of conflict over the use of Olympic emblems has emerged. According to a story in the Hertfordshire Mercury, Olympic Removals, which claims to have traded under this banner for 22 years has been asked, under threat of legal action, to take down or paint over its Olympic rings on its fleets of lorries, vans and other signs, and withdraw it from marketing materials.  This story should act as a warning that not only has the London Organising Committee secured powerful rights under the Act, it is gearing up to use them.  

If you require any further information in relation to this matter, please contact your usual Appleyard Lees advisor or your local Appleyard Lees office. We would be happy to help.