{"id":24270,"date":"2025-06-27T16:44:45","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T14:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valloni.ch\/2025\/06\/27\/combatting-ambush-marketing-in-the-united-kingdom\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T17:45:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T15:45:22","slug":"combatting-ambush-marketing-in-the-united-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valloni.ch\/de\/2025\/06\/27\/combatting-ambush-marketing-in-the-united-kingdom\/","title":{"rendered":"COMBATTING AMBUSH MARKETING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-24267\" src=\"https:\/\/valloni.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Combating-Ambush-Marketing-VALLONI-2025.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/valloni.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Combating-Ambush-Marketing-VALLONI-2025.jpg 1792w, https:\/\/valloni.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Combating-Ambush-Marketing-VALLONI-2025-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/valloni.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Combating-Ambush-Marketing-VALLONI-2025-1024x585.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/valloni.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Combating-Ambush-Marketing-VALLONI-2025-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/valloni.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Combating-Ambush-Marketing-VALLONI-2025-1536x878.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/valloni.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Combating-Ambush-Marketing-VALLONI-2025-345x198.jpg 345w, https:\/\/valloni.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Combating-Ambush-Marketing-VALLONI-2025-700x400.jpg 700w, https:\/\/valloni.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Combating-Ambush-Marketing-VALLONI-2025-1100x629.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018Ambush Marketing\u2019 Generally<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018<\/strong>Ambush marketing\u2019 involves companies, using a variety of methods of directly and indirectly associating themselves, their products and services with major sporting events without being official sponsors of them, with a view to gaining publicity and commercial advantages, and without, in fact, paying any sponsorship fees.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Ambush marketing\u2019 can include \u2018direct ambush marketing<em>\u2019.<\/em>\u00a0For example, where companies promote themselves, for example, as the &#8222;official suppliers&#8220; of team or athletes participating in sporting events, even where not official sponsors of the events.<\/p>\n<p>Also \u2018indirect ambush marketing\u2019, where companies associate themselves with sports events without explicitly claiming sponsorships. For example, companies, who are not official sponsors, distribute <em>gratis<\/em> their branded products to fans attending sporting events.<\/p>\n<p>In the United Kingdom (UK), there is no specific law outlawing \u2018ambush marketing\u2019 as such and, therefore, sports events organisers, sponsors and others, affected by various kinds of unfair marketing practices, must rely upon a combination of legal measures to protect themselves.<\/p>\n<p>These measures include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>trademarks and copyright;<\/li>\n<li>specific sporting events-related legislation; and<\/li>\n<li>advertising codes;<\/li>\n<li>as well as legal actions under the Common Law Doctrine of \u2018passing off\u2019 &#8211; a form of unfair competition in a business\/commercial sense &#8211; to combat unauthorised associations with major sporting events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Trademarks and Copyright<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sports events organisers can use their intellectual property rights in sports events logos and names, to prevent unauthorised use by third parties.\u00a0For example, the Football Association (FA), the governing body of association football in England, has registered its flag-ship event, the \u2018FA Cup\u2019, and FIFA, the world governing body of association football, has registered its \u2018FIFA World Cup\u2019 as trademarks in the UK.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Event-Specific Legislation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some major sporting events, like the Olympic Games, have specific legislation to prevent \u2018ambush marketing\u2019, such as the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act of 2006, which provided the legal framework for the staging of the 2012 London Olympics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Advertising Standards\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), under its Code of |Advertising Practice, which requires that advertisements must be \u201c<em>legal, decent, honest and truthful<\/em>\u201d, can intervene in cases where marketing campaigns, including those relating to UK sporting events, are considered to be misleading or create a false association with such events.<\/p>\n<p>However, for example, the ASA dismissed a claim for misleading advertising when a well-known beer brand invited consumers to \u201c<em>Support English Rugby<\/em>\u201d, as the advertising concerned was not misleading, because it was clear who were the official sponsors and the advertising did not, therefore, imply any official sponsorship relationship with the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.asa.org.uk\/news\/ambushing-the-world-cups.html\">English Rugby Team<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For breaches of the Code, the ASA may impose sanctions, which include fines and \u2018naming and shaming\u2019 of offenders.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018Passing Off\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This legal action allows sports events organisers to sue for misrepresentation if companies\u2019 marketing campaigns lead consumers to believe that there is an official association with the sports events concerned when none exists.<\/p>\n<p>To succeed in a \u2018Passing Off\u2019 action related to sporting events, the organisers must prove:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>goodwill;<\/li>\n<li>misrepresentation; and<\/li>\n<li>damages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Legal Consequences of \u2018ambush marketing\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the UK, \u2018ambush marketing\u2019 cases can result in legal proceedings. These include Court injunctions to stop the \u2018ambush marketing\u2019; and claims for damages, which, depending upon the circumstances of each particular case, can be substantial.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We advise on all aspects of \u2018ambush marketing\u2019 in the United Kingdom, and further information is available from the Head of our United Kingdom Desk, Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw, by emailing him at <a href=\"mailto:blackshaw@valloni.ch\">blackshaw@valloni.ch<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Ambush Marketing\u2019 Generally \u2018Ambush marketing\u2019 involves companies, using a variety of methods of directly and indirectly associating themselves, their products and services with major sporting events without being official sponsors of them, with a view to gaining publicity and commercial advantages, and without, in fact,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-de"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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