Companies that are not official sponsors of a commercial or
sporting occasion may face legal proceedings if they attempt to
leverage their brands off the event.
Furthermore, although ambush marketing stunts are often
entertaining and well-received by the public, they can result in a
loss of revenue for many projects and organisations that are
dependent on commercial sponsorship for their survival, and may
impact negatively on local and national development, particularly
where an event's viability hinges on sponsorship.
This is according to Lauren Frizelle, Associate at
ENS' IP Department, who says that ambush marketing is
a fairly common occurrence, characterised by companies, that are
not official sponsors of an event, trying to create an association
between their brands and products and the event, often by using the
name, logo or imagery of that event, She says that in spite of very
dedicated efforts by London officials to prevent ambush marketing,
a few
