Unprecedented protections achieved in Athens for the Olympic brand would be difficult to emulate in London, intellectual property lawyers said this week in the wake of a clamp-down on billboard advertising in the Greek capital in advance of this summer's games.

The Athens organising committee last week launched a campaign to slash the number of billboards around the city, clearing 10,000 from buildings and city rooftops at a cost of €750,000 (£500,000) to prevent ambush marketing by non-sponsor companies hoping to cash in on the sporting brand.


Andrew Hobson, the head of intellectual property at London-based law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, said the International Olympic Committee has strong powers to protect its brand, but even by those standards this was an 'extraordinary move that has never been achieved before'.


Mr Hobson said: 'I don't see how London could do this. Here the advertising hoardings would be determined individually by companies with the advertisers, and then there is the problem that they all


lie within the control of the individual city boroughs and councils, rather than under the control of the mayoralty.'


Allan Poulter, a partner in the trade mark and brands protection group of City firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, said: 'We've not seen this done before... there would be more of an outcry if it was attempted in London.'


But he added: 'The more obstacles put in the path of advertisers, the more advertisers are able to come and take advantage.'