Companies have been urged to enter into the spirit of the Olympics at a sporty business event held at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham – but warned to stay on the right side of exclusivity laws.

Businesspeople were put through their paces by a string of household names, including triple jumper Phillips Idowu, sprinter Dwain Chambers and high jumper Tom Parsons, at Flying Start, an event organised by marketing agency WAA ahead of the Games in London next year.

They also heard from experts including former 400m world champion Daniel Caines and Jessica Ennis’s coach Tony Minichiello about the power of the Games.

However, with more than £700 million in sponsorship and exclusivity deals agreed with London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), an intellectual property expert said firms have to negotiate a maze of marketing laws.

Andy Wilson, chief executive of WAA, said despite the Games being nine months away, now was the time to think about next summer.

He said: “The thing is to not let the legal implications put you off. If you are engaging with the right partners it is a huge opportunity, but you have to be aware of the legal implications and engage with the right people.

“They protect the Olympics’ intellectual property but the spirit of the Games is there to be embraced.”

However, despite this encouragement firms have been warned against so called “ambush marketing”.

More than £700 million has been spent on sponsorship deals ahead of the Games, with Birmingham-based Cadbury having spent £50 million and British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB among the tier one partners.

Sara McNeill, a solicitor at Browne Jacobson, explained to businesspeople at the WAA event that they had to consider 2012 Statutory Marketing Rights ahead of the Games.

She said the Olympic Association Right (OAR) Paralympic Association Right (PAR) and London Olympic Association Right (LOAR) all guarded against ambush marketing – pretending to be an official partner.

She also said that Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter limits athletes competing in the Games from appearing in advertising during the event.

She said: “You have to review it against the backdrop of this legislation to make sure you are doing things correctly.

“You have to be award of the London 2012 Statutory Marketing Rights which are there to prevent people who aren’t associated with the Games from creating an unauthorised association.

“You also have Rule 40, which restricts participating athletes from appearing in adverts during the Games period.

“The reason for this is for LOCOG to put on these Games it has to raise money and it does this through sponsors putting millions into the Games and by offering exclusivity.”

Ms McNeill explained that LOCOG kept a close eye on any marketing which associated companies with the Games, including use of the five rings, motto and the terms Olympics and Paralympics.

She added: “There are going to be some instances where you are in a grey area. In that case, you should be thinking ‘am I eroding sponsorship rights?’.”

The WAA event featured presentations from the firm’s creative partner Chris Bailey, Olympian turned talent manager Daniel Caines and Mr Minichiello.

Later in the day the assembled businesspeople were also put through their paces by track and field stars Idowu, Chambers and Parsons.

Among those to take part was Simon Humpage, marketing manager at builders’ merchants Selco, who said he was already thinking ahead of next summer’s showcase event.

He said: “It is very much a consideration because it is such a massive event which is going to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

“We have got a lot of business in London – almost half of our branches are there – so particularly for that reason we were interested.

“But this is just about asking ‘is it appropriate to be thinking about the Olympics?’ It is a fact-finding mission, and the legal aspects have to be considered.

"But everyone is going to be talking about the Olympics so you wonder whether it is going to be the right thing. Is it in your best interests to jump on the bandwagon?”

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