London 2012 Olympics Brand Protection
6 January 2012, Peter Gemmell
We are very pleased to announce that David Copp, one of our founder partners, has been seconded to join the Brand Protection Team for the London 2012 Olympic Games. David, a keen sailor as many of you will know, will be based at Weymouth (the sailing venue) for the Paralympic Games and is still waiting to hear where he will be stationed for the main Olympics.
The Olympic brands (the London 2012 logo and so forth) are valuable brands. David reports that to a significant extent, this work will be similar to that which he was busy with in the past in preventing unauthorised traders from misusing the trade marks of a major motor vehicle manufacturer.
The Olympic organisers are very conscious of the need to maintain exclusivity for the main sponsors of the events, as they have invested substantial sums of money for that exclusivity. The Brand Protection Team will be watching to ensure that any attempts at “ambush marketing” are headed off, and also to explain to smaller traders why unauthorised use of the Olympic symbols is not permitted as it dilutes the distinctiveness of those symbols.
