USOC protests trademark for The Olympian newspaper

[snopes]

The U.S. Olympic Committee is fighting a trademark application filed by The Olympian, the daily newspaper in Olympia, Washington.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...UUeBgD9B51BQ80

[Lainie]

The USOC notice says granting a trademark to the newspaper would falsely suggest a connection to the world sports event, interfering with licensees and sponsors.

No, it wouldn't, since the newspaper is located in a town called Olympia.

[ganzfeld]

The gods are going to be pretty pissed off when they find out their mountain is being used to promote some silly games.

[TrekkerScout]

From 36 USC 220506:

(d)(3) Use of the word ''Olympic'' to identify a business or goods or services is permitted by this section where--

(A) such use is not combined with any of the intellectual properties referenced in subsection (a) or (c) of this section;
(B) it is evident from the circumstances that such use of the word ''Olympic'' refers to the naturally occurring mountains or geographical region of the same name that were named prior to February 6, 1998, and not to the corporation or any Olympic activity; and
(C) such business, goods, or services are operated, sold, and marketed in the State of Washington west of the Cascade Mountain range and operations, sales, and marketing outside of this area are not substantial.

[BringTheNoise]

Will the USOC also be asking Sen. Snow to change her name?

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by BringTheNoise

Will the USOC also be asking Sen. Snow to change her name?

No, but she might have to relocate, since Maine is east of the Cascades.

[AnglRdr]

I'm just going to throw this out there for discussion fodder:

Perhaps the USOC's inability to understand its own rules is why Chicago didn't get the 2016 games.

I'm just saying.

[snopes]

I plan to change my name to Vancouver Olympics and then plaster it all over our web site, thereby garnering us the top search ranking for that term.

[AnglRdr]

Throw a "2010" on the end, snopes, and you'll totally kill!

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Originally Posted by TrekkerScout

From 36 USC 220506:

The Olympic committee has been hassling Washington businesses located on the Olympic Peninsula for years.

Seaboe

[TrekkerScout]

Originally Posted by Seaboe Muffinchucker

The Olympic committee has been hassling Washington businesses located on the Olympic Peninsula for years.

Here are a couple of other recent actions by the USOC:

Best of the Olympic Peninsula

Olympic Cellars Winery (I've been to the winery several times. If you are into traditional reds, I recommend the 2006 Syrah.)

[snopes]

Originally Posted by BringTheNoise

Will the USOC also be asking Sen. Snow to change her name?

Nitpick: Her name is Olympia Snowe

[BringTheNoise]

Duly noted.

[BamaRainbow]

Should anyone be surprised? Especially after all the fuss made over the "Gay Olympics" which were forced to change their name to the "Gay Games".
The USOC is just another corporate entity, willing to sue anybody who even appears to infringe on their "copyrights", no matter how innocently it's done.

[BringTheNoise]

That's not a good comparison at all though. Calling them the "Gay Olympics" does make it sound like they are an official Olympic event, like the Special Olmypics. A newspaper from Olympia is in a completely different league.