‘Companies, keep off Team Kenya,’ says NOCK
The National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK) has sent out a very stern warning to Kenya companies trying to exploit the coming Tokyo Olympics and its properties saying legal action will be taken against them. The statement issued by the committee advises that those intending to use these properties must be cleared and licensed to do so. So what are these properties?
NOCK says that Olympic Anthem, flag, motto, flame and torches, designations, words “Olympics”, “Tokyo 2020”, “Team Kenya” and all other items referring to the competing teams, and the names, images, and likeness of Team Kenya sports have been protected as their brands and no corporate entity unless otherwise authorized and recognized as a Partner of Team Kenya, has the right to use or publish them for purposes of direct or inferred marketing campaigns.
The committee maintains that congratulatory messages on social media trying to infer an association with the Games or the team are not generic and only “a preserve of authorized Partners”. Celebrities and influencers have also been warned against associating their funded posts with the Olympics. International Olympics Committee partners who are not Team Kenya sponsors have not been spared and have been told to keep off the Team Kenya promotion.
“The hashtags #TeamKenya #Tokyo2020 #Olympics, including spinoffs created from the Olympics properties, are only the preserve of the Committee, its partners, and the general public,” said NOCK in a statement.
An exception has been granted for the use of the #TeamKenya hashtag for editorial purposes by the media houses licensed by the Communications Authority of Kenya.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the official Team Kenya partners are the Ministry of Sports, Kenya Breweries Ltd – Tusker, Kenya Charity Sweepstake, and Safaricom. International IOC partners, who are not sponsors of Team Kenya also have no rights to use the image and likeness of Team Kenya,” said NOCK.
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