Legal

British Olympic Association

The British Olympic Association (“BOA”) is the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The BOA is independent and privately funded and has the sole responsibility for raising funds for Team GB. The vast majority of the funds raised by the BOA are through the granting of sponsorship, licensing and other commercial rights that allow companies to become officially associated with the Olympic Movement in one form or another.

The Olympic Movement

The Olympic Movementʼs intellectual property is directly and expressly protected by Acts of Parliament including “The Olympic Symbol etc. (Protection) Act 1995” (as amended by the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006). The BOA is charged, through these statutes, with the responsibility for managing and controlling the commercial exploitation of such intellectual property including, but not limited to, the following protected words and images:

  • The Olympic five ring symbol (or anything similar)

  • The words Olympic(s), Olympiad(s), Olympian(s) (and similar words such as ʻOlympixʼ)

  • The motto “citius, altius, fortius” and its English equivalent “Faster, higher, stronger”

Trademarks

In addition, the BOA owns a number of registered trade marks including (but not limited to) word/ logo marks such as Team GB, BOA, Believe in Extraordinary and Pride the Lion. Likewise, Olympic Games logos and mascots are registered trademarks of the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”) and/or the relevant organising committee in place from time to time. The BOA is responsible for protecting, licensing and enforcing all Olympic-related intellectual property in this territory.

Intellectual Property

Any unauthorised use of the BOAʼs and/or IOC’s protected intellectual property is strictly prohibited and is subject to a number of legal penalties that the BOA will enforce.