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United Kingdom - London Olympics 2012: bullying versus amicable trademark enforcement
By Adam Smith
July 11 2011
It is one year until the London Olympic Games commence, but the organising committee is already facing plenty of trademark issues. Chief among them, say observers, is how to strike the balance between sensible trademark enforcement and overly aggressive enforcement that could damage the Olympics brand itself.
The most high-profile case to date concerns the trademark application of the Great Exhibition 2012, a two-week festival to celebrate Britain during the Games next year. As reported by the BBC, organiser Julie Benson was shocked to hear that her trademark application for GREAT EXHIBITION 2012 was being objected to by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG). This kind of enforcement may be no surprise to trademark counsel. LOCOG, of course, does not want any third-party mark to create an “unauthorised association” with the Games, as outlined in the London Olympics and Paralympics Games Act 2006. But Benson argued that she was not creating an association simply by using “2012”. “I agree with LOCOG that they have to protect their brand against people who are trying to sail too close to the wind,” she told WTR. “But they still didn’t seem to believe or understand that their law didn’t stretch so far that they could stop me.”
Benson also resented LOCOG’s “aggressive” approach, which is why she defied LOCOG’s request of confidentiality and went to the BBC. “At the moment, they’re being very aggressive, which is scaring the little people,” Benson said.
LOCOG and Benson have now reached an agreement as to how Benson can and cannot use “2012”. But perhaps the spat could have been avoided altogether. Benson suggests that LOCOG could establish an advice line for smaller brand owners who want to capitalise on the Games without infringing LOCOG’s marks. She says that the line could assist anyone who needs help understanding the law. “That will stop a lot of the smaller problems,” she notes. “An advice line would be very useful.”
David Latham, partner in Hogan Lovells’ London trademark practice, agrees that Locog should endeavour to help people. “They need to enter into something of a educational process,” he told WTR. “There needs to be a certain amount of education about what people can and can’t do, rather than just sticking the legislation out there and just jumping up and down if it goes wrong.”
Latham notes that there has been little dialogue in the press about trademark concerns and the Games. This reticence could become very loud if something goes awry. “If LOCOG is not careful,” he says, “they’ll end up in a PR disaster.”
LOCOG was not available for comment, but some observers suggest that the group is not saying much about trademarks to the general public because it is instead focusing on working with the authorities. This could be very important: as WTR reported in April, the UK’s IP enforcement officers may struggle to cope during the Games. Mike Roylance, senior brand protection manager at adidas, one of the Games’ major sponsors, praised LOCOG’s training of the relevant authorities. “We’ve been involved in a rolling programme around the country,” he told WTR, “educating various authorities – trading standards, police, customs – for two or three years now.” Nevertheless, Roylance acknowledged that he is still expecting a huge IP enforcement challenge.
“In the official parks and venues there will be exclusion zones,” he explained, “which will be heavily patrolled by LOCOG and lots of volunteers working for them. Unfortunately, once you’re outside of there, it’s fair game. We expect ourselves to be seeing problems in and around the big park and rides, railways stations, service stations on motorways, airports, areas where fans camp to watch big screen TVs and tourist areas like Oxford Street. Everybody’s going to be spread a bit thin, to be honest.”
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