Ambush marketing and the Rio Olympics

The Rio Olympics provides sponsors and brands unparalleled marketing opportunities – and infringement minefields. When it comes to the Olympics, marketing is never business as usual, as lawyer Stephen von Muenster explains.

As Brazil prepares to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janiero, the Brazilian Congress has been busy attempting to protect the valuable intellectual property surrounding the Rio Olympics by enacting specific legislation in an effort to curb ambush marketing attempts, and unlawful associations by brands, which inevitably occurs during large scale sporting events.

As is our usual advice around this time, agencies and brands need to consider the legal risks of associating a brand with the Olympics where the brand is not an official sponsor or licensee, particularly given the level of investment by official Olympic sponsors to gain an exclusive category right of association with the Games.