Olympic Domains and Trademark

[RaiderGirl]

I've noticed a few sale threads for Olympic domains here, My question is; Are most of you aware the word "Olympic" is heavily trademarked? And the Olympic committee aggressively goes after such names?

The Olympic domain your considering buying for $100 could very well turn into a $10,000 headache or worse.

I recall a discussion of allowing TM domains on the forum, but I would think Admin would want to protect it's members from investing in such names that can cause them financial hardship.

 

[RazorNF]

Yes, they are notoriously famous for protecting their marks. Sometimes to the point of absurdity.

So let Raider's post be a reminder to those of you who may not know better (and to those that don't care, well you do what you do...)

 

[DN BROKER]

No one ever gets it!

 

[iowadawg]

The IOC is very protective of their logos, names and events.
Just ask any tv station trying to show events, parts of events, etc.
NBC and the IOC crack down quick and hard!

I read a short piece where IOC has people who roam the net looking for any videos (taken by people at events, which is disallowed and they confiscate cameras, etc when they see this happen), any thing written up about the olympics, domains, etc etc.

 

[RaiderGirl]

Once of the reasons I created this thread is because I realize many domainers are NOT aware the word "Olympic" is heavily trademarked.. Many years ago I certainly didn't know when I back ordered an Olympic domain, it wasn't until after that I did a Google search and found the domain was part of a TM lawsuit against the previous owner.. Needless to say, I allowed it drop.

After just entering the URL, I see the domain was picked up by a domainer and parked it with Olympic sport results, All of which appear to be blocked by the provider... Anyone interested in the domain, send me a PM.

 

[Kate]

Realtor is another example of TM. Many people are in fact under the impression it's generic. So thanks for the timely reminder.

 

[miller]

since nearly going bust in the 80s Olympics IOC merchandises every single part of the games and use of the word it even tried to have companies who’s business were on the routes like marathon road races etc hide or remove there logos,

wants people in stadiums to only eat and drink from official outlets within the complex, so when a domain has there trademark in it they’ll defend there it tooth and nail... 1936 Games were the first to employ the torch run. And there are similarities of that regime and how the ioc would like to run the modern Olympics or use of the word for sure

 

[RazorNF]

Yes, I've heard of secret IOC "police" who go around looking for anything that might upset their sponsors.

I heard you could even be denied entry to an event despite having paid for tickets, if you are wearing something from a sponsor's competitor.

 

[SK1990]

Realtor is another example of TM. Many people are in fact under the impression it's generic. So thanks for the timely reminder.

I was totally unaware of this one until about a week ago :O

 

[decades80]

Realtor is another example of TM. Many people are in fact under the impression it's generic. So thanks for the timely reminder.

Thanks for sharing. You gave me the reason to let the realtor domains drop.

 

[DomainSellerz]

I think it's always a good idea to check uspto.gov first to see if there is a similar mark, and then trademarkia.com to see how anal the owner is about it. In this case for example, go to Trademarkia and click on Fights at the top, then click on Biggest Bullies on the left hand side, and then type in United States Olympic Committee in the search bar. It will pull up about 60 marks they have opposed legally, including some with words like "olympia" & "olympian" and "US Gold" which is a gold trading company that has nothing to do with athletics. Hopefully this exercise helps before spending big $ on a domain that can be blocked with a C&D.

 

[decades80]

Thanks for that link Its great.