The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) launched their mascots for the 2012 Games this week. The mascots are one-eyed alien-type characters, designed specifically to appeal to children, thus reflecting the efforts made in the original London bid to focus on the legacy of encouraging children to participate in sport.

The Olympic mascot is named Wenlock, after the town of Much Wenlock in Shropshire, which inspired Pierre de Courbetin to launch the Olympic Games in 1896. The Paralympic mascot is named Mandeville, after the town of Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire where the Paralympic Games were born.

These mascots will join the long list of protected Olympic symbols, emblems and logos. Advertisers, except official sponsors of the Games, should avoid using the mascots, or any similar character, in their advertising. To do so without permission from LOCOG would almost certainly infringe the London Olympic Association Right, which grants very wide protection to the Games, preventing non-sponsors from being in any way associated with the event, the details of which are described in more detail in our Ad Guide on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.