Highlights: The Paris Olympic Games, which will begin on July 26, will be no exception to the rule. Brands and companies will have to comply with precise rules laid down by the International Olympic Committee and the Organizing Committee. The rings, the motto, the flag, the terms “Olympic”, ‘Olympians’ but also everything linked to the Paris Games themselves – the mascot, the torch, the official poster – are protected. “There is extremely strong control from the Committee over what companies can do,” says a lawyer specializing in intellectual property.

The Paris Olympic Games, which will begin on July 26, will be no exception to the rule: as with each edition, brands and companies will have to comply with precise rules...

Olympic Games 2024: brands subject to strict supervision during the competition

The Paris Olympic Games, which will begin on July 26, will be no exception to the rule: as with each edition, brands and companies will have to comply with precise rules laid down by the International Olympic Committee and the Organizing Committee for not to overshadow the official sponsors of the Games and avoid heavy sanctions.

A view of the headquarters of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on March 28, 2024. © AFP / JOEL SAGET

By: RFI with AFP

In the jargon, these are “

Olympic properties

”: the rings, the motto, the flag, the terms “Olympic”, “Olympians” but also everything linked to the Paris Olympic Games themselves – the mascot, the torch, the official poster – are protected.

During the Olympic Games in France, it is the Organizing Committee which monitors their proper use, a use authorized for official partners. “

There is extremely strong control from the Committee over what companies can do

,” Vanessa Bouchara, a lawyer specializing in intellectual property, explains to AFP. “

The Paris judicial court has made provisions available to take into account the various attacks that could occur during the Olympics

,” she adds.

In February, the Sporsora association, which brings together sports stakeholders, already reported “

1,500 products withdrawn or destroyed

” and “

more than 650 letters of formal notice and reminders of rights

” sent since 2019. There are several years, Le Coq Sportif, which currently manufactures equipment for French team athletes, was condemned for sneakers bearing

the “Olympic dream

” stamp. But it can also be the terms “

Olympic laziness

” on cups or the misappropriation of rings in the form of macaroons or condoms, recently detailed the director general of the French Olympic Committee, Skander Karaa, during a conference at the Court of Cassation .

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Exceptions for partner brands

This is the

“clean venue” principle

, analyzed for AFP Bruno Bianzina, general director of the Sport Market agency: all brands are erased. “

Unless authorization may be granted exceptionally by the IOC Executive Board, no form of advertising or other publicity will be permitted in or above stadiums, enclosures and other competition venues which are considered to be part of the Olympic sites

”, we can read in the charter of the International Olympic Committee.

Exceptions are nevertheless possible. This is the case of Omega for example, a Swiss watch brand responsible for timekeeping and partner of the IOC, whose name we see appearing in the Olympic stadiums. At the Paris Games, the French luxury giant LVMH, tier 1 sponsor, will be “

associated with the journey of the flame

” but the mystery remains as to whether or not it could make an appearance during the unprecedented opening ceremony. on the Seine. “

This

would be a first for the Olympics ,” notes Bruno Bianzina.

And among the sponsors, there is a hierarchy: not everyone has the same rights. The 2023 Olympic law introduced exemptions for display. Certain spaces normally prohibited, such as historical monuments, will be able to receive advertisements from 30 days before the opening ceremony, i.e. June 26, and until 15 days after the closing of the Paralympic Games.

But for everyone who is not a partner, it is very complicated. “

We

must be very careful to never suggest an official partnership and not try to take advantage of Olympic notoriety ,” explains Vanessa Bouchara. “

Ambush

marketing ”, in other words marketing by “ambush” to surf the event.

“

Unauthorized actors or unauthorized companies do not have the right to communicate in a way that could be considered unfair or parasitic ,” summarizes the lawyer.

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A recent relaxation for athlete sponsors

Communication from sponsors of athletes and athletes themselves is also very supervised. However, it was relaxed after the Rio Games in 2016, where a company that sponsored an athlete could not even be mentioned. “

When we do shoots with athletes, we erase the watches, we blur the third-party brands

,” says Bruno Bianzina. The IOC and the Cojo, which keep an eye on things, “

have

effective monitoring tools on social networks ,” he adds.

Concretely, these rules apply from the opening of the Olympic village, from July 18 until August 13. A brand cannot "explicitly or implicitly

indicate

that a particular product or service contributed to improving the participant's performance " for example, and it can only thank its athlete once during the Olympic Games and without the brand image being published.

Olympic Games 2024: brands subject to strict supervision during the competition

Olympic Games 2024: brands subject to strict supervision during the competition

Exceptions for partner brands

A recent relaxation for athlete sponsors

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