Trade Mark Are Ring Fenced for the Olympics
The Guardian, in a piece headlined 'You can say it's 2012…but unless you're a sponsor don't mention the Olympics', wrote about the extensive constraints on companies when it comes to anything associated with the Olympics. In 2006 the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act was passed, which, together with the Olympic Symbol (Protection) Act of 1995 provides "a special level of protection to the Games and their sponsors over and above existing copyright or contract law.” Be warned, “a breach of these acts is a criminal offence". The Guardian noted that “as well as introducing an additional layer of protection around the word "Olympics", the five-rings symbol and the Games' mottoes, the major change of the legislation is to outlaw unauthorised "association". This bars non-sponsors from employing images or wording that might suggest too close a link with the Games. “ This means that all of the following expressions could be c