As Official Legal Advisors to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Gowling WLG has advised on the creation of the event's recently-unveiled mascot, Perry the Bull.

Perry is named after Perry Barr, the area of Birmingham that is home to Alexander Stadium, and was inspired by Birmingham's market area known as the Bull Ring, which dates back to the 16th century.

To create the mascot, a competition was announced for children aged between 5 and 15 across the country to submit their designs. As part of this, there was a virtual summit where a number of children spoke to former Olympic and twice Commonwealth Games heptathlon champion Denise Lewis.

Charlotte Dean, an associate from the firm's Commercial IT and Outsourcing team, is on secondment at B2022. Charlotte has been the legal lead within B2022 on the mascot competition, virtual mascot summit and supported mascot launch. As part of her wide portfolio of responsibilities, she has advised on data protection, the design licence for Perry's augmented reality filters, talent agreements for Denise Lewis and comedian Guz Khan, social media influencer agreements, and NDAs. She has also acted as the legal representative on the mascot working group for the campaign.

Gowling WLG IP/advertising law senior associate Kate Hawkins is also currently on secondment at B2022 as the brand protection manager. She helped get Perry's IP protections (including trademark and design registrations) over the line and advised in relation to mascot appearances.

Legal director Dan Smith and associate Zoe Pearman from the firm's Brands team were responsible for preparing the competition terms and conditions, as well as reviewing and amending the consent form for the virtual summit. They also prepared the Prize Winner's Agreement, which assigned the rights of the design to B2022, as well as an explanatory note for the children's parents explaining what the agreement means. Dan also reviewed and commented on the talent agreements with Denise Lewis and presenter Radzi Chinyanganya.

Commenting on the work, Zoe said: "It's brilliant to have been involved in such a historic event for both Birmingham and the UK and to have played a role in the creation of the mascot. Dan and I are both so proud to see Perry the Bull finally come to life."

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