Olympic TM

[kevinvd]

Hi,
I have those 2 domains: OlympicGamesLive.com and OlympicWinter.com
some people say these are problem child's as they have tm issue.
But when I check the list of tm'ed names:
http://www.vancouver2010.com/resources/PDFs/Official Marks.pdf

I see "Olympic" but also "Olympic Torch, Olympic Winter Games, Olympic Team, Olympic Podium, etc"
The word Olympic is generic, it means coming from Olympia, place in Greece.
So the word Olympic Chair for example is just a chair made in olympia.
I thought, why would they register Olympic Torch, Olympic Podium etc if they have "Olympic" wich protects all words with "Olympic"?... not. So I figured out that they just have the TM for all letter combinations in the list above like "Olympic Winter Games" but not Olympic Winter wich is nowhere in the list, also "Olympic Games Live" isn't, "Olympic Games" is.
I know that if you regged for example MicrosoftChair it's a TM issue. But Olympic Chair and so Olympic Winter? Olympic Games Live??

Grtz and sorry for my lenghty post but I normally speak Dutch and can't explain it shorter

 

[Peter]

The Olympic committee are 100% protective over their trademark. The 2 domains you posted are quite clearly going against their trademark

In all honesty with OlympicGamesLive.com and OlympicWinter.com what else could you mean bar the Olympic Games and the Winter Olympics. They seem to have been 100% registered in full knowledge and because of the Olympic games.

You also mention that they have registered a few terms. Just because these are the only terms they physically registered does not mean they are the terms they solely have the rights to use. If you read through the posts in this section of the forum you will see a recurring theme. Trademarks do not have to be registered to be enforceable, they can merely be recognized by the fact that the organization uses them.

If they can prove they have been using the terms before you registered the domain names then they have a legitimate use for that domain name and have a strong argument when it comes to a WIPO.

Take a look at the following WIPO decision:-

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2000/d2000-0189.html

You will see that it states the following:-

Pursuant to U.S. law 1, USOC has the exclusive right to use the term "Olympic" in the U.S. USOC owns a number of U.S. registrations for the "Olympic" mark, either alone or as part of a composite mark. These registrations include: No. 2,311,493 for the mark OLYMPIC for selecting and obtaining athletes to represent the U.S. in international athletic competitions and events; No. 968,566 for the mark OLYMPIC for a wide variety of goods and services, including jewelry, glassware, stationery, publications and souvenirs; and No. 2,246,999 for the mark U.S. OLYMPIC SPIRITS for retail store services featuring a wide variety of goods. USOC also owns the domain name "usolympicstore.org". USOC licenses these and other marks to obtain the funding necessary to fulfill its responsibilities 2.

Yes you read that correctly they have the EXCLUSIVE rights to the term Olympic.

 

[shockie]

the olympics are one of those groups that will come after you for trademark violations and have done so in the past. i suggest that you dump all your olympic names asap.

 

[kevinvd]

hmm yes I understand, so i'm just going to let them expire.
Thx for your reply, rep added...
Just strange:
- that a company can register a real word or adjective (olympic wich clearly has many meanings, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic

# the MTR station in Hong Kong (Olympic)
#Olympic Airlines (Greece airline)
# Olympic Peninsula (United States), the large arm of land in western Washington state that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle
# Olympic Mountains (United States), a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula
# Olympic National Park (United States), located on the Olympic Peninsula

They all have TM issues....

- they register Olympic Torch and other combinations with olympic, why why why why why?? costs money and it's not needed...

 

[omnia]

# the MTR station in Hong Kong (Olympic)
#Olympic Airlines (Greece airline)
# Olympic Peninsula (United States), the large arm of land in western Washington state that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle
# Olympic Mountains (United States), a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula
# Olympic National Park (United States), located on the Olympic Peninsula

None of these have anything to do with the GAMES which is the issue here

 

[Peter]

- they register Olympic Torch and other combinations with olympic, why why why why why?? costs money and it's not needed...

If you register a trademark it is easier to enforce that trademark. They probably decided to trademark the terms they were most protective over.

 

[Kenny]

The IOC has never lost a hearing.
Ask the kid that reg'd Vancouver2010.com

 

[kevinvd]

So in fact, if i develop a website with pictures of the winter in Olympia, there is no problem, but if I want to sell the domain, nobody will buy it cause they can't use it for the games? Right? So I'm stuck
Mwhoah, good trying, right?
Thx for replys

 

[DNQuest.com]

First and foremost, why did you register the domains? I am betting it was to make money off of it because it has "olympic" in it. Yes, the IOC is very protective of their marks. As far as the other "Olympics", they are not competing against the IOC. The same terms can be a TM for 2 different entities (Apple Inc and Apple Records).

To help you out, read my sig, it will help immensly.

 

[bradskid]

Hmm.. Maybe you could write their legal department. I registered a few names containing 2008 and Medals. I wrote their legal department and let them know in 2008 I planned on doing a site that would be forum for discussion of Medal predictions and tracking of the medal winners. They cleared me, and even told me it was ok to park the pages until then. You never know until you try, but definitely DONT try and do anything behind their back.

 

[peterxie]

i have one

olympichampion.com

 

[DNQuest.com]

i have one

olympichampion.com

Make sure you read this thread closely, then read my sig.. It will help you a lot.

 

[Ronald Regging]

Don't anger the gods!

 

[RWAC]

Hmm.. Maybe you could write their legal department. I registered a few names containing 2008 and Medals. I wrote their legal department and let them know in 2008 I planned on doing a site that would be forum for discussion of Medal predictions and tracking of the medal winners. They cleared me, and even told me it was ok to park the pages until then. You never know until you try, but definitely DONT try and do anything behind their back.

You again?!! :hehe:

I too, registered in my naievity three names with the word Olympic and Gold Medal when I was first looking into the world of domain names and developing websites.

Very quickly I learned that it would be very unwise to park or develop these three so will simply let them expire. These days I'm much more careful.

Although perhaps like you Brad, I may write their legal department and ask for their advice, although certainly if they wanted the domains, they would be welcome to them as it's just not worth the hassle or the headache to infuriate a very large corporation and to have them come down on you, like a ton of bricks.

Lesson well learned.

 

[Dave_Z]

Don't anger the gods!

I just read what happened to Semele after she just saw Zeus.

 

[jberryhill]

In the US, the United States Olympic Committee has its own federal law, entirely separate from trademarks, relating to use of the word Olympic.

The following sections of that law should answer every question in the thread, as far as the US is concerned:

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode36/usc_sec_36_00220506----000-.html

(a) Exclusive Right of Corporation.— Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, the corporation has the exclusive right to use—

(1) the name “United States Olympic Committee”;

(2) the symbol of the International Olympic Committee, consisting of 5 interlocking rings, the symbol of the International Paralympic Committee, consisting of 3 TaiGeuks, or the symbol of the Pan-American Sports Organization, consisting of a torch surrounded by concentric rings;

(3) the emblem of the corporation, consisting of an escutcheon having a blue chief and vertically extending red and white bars on the base with 5 interlocking rings displayed on the chief; and

(4) the words “Olympic”, “Olympiad”, “Citius Altius Fortius”, “Paralympic”, “Paralympiad”, “Pan-American”, “America Espirito Sport Fraternite”, or any combination of those words.

<...>

(d) Pre-Existing and Geographic Reference Rights.—

(1) A person who actually used the emblem described in subsection (a)(3) of this section, or the words or any combination of the words described in subsection (a)(4) of this section, for any lawful purpose before September 21, 1950, is not prohibited by this section from continuing the lawful use for the same purpose and for the same goods or services.

(2) A person who actually used, or whose assignor actually used, the words or any combination of the words described in subsection (a)(4) of this section, or a trademark, trade name, sign, symbol, or insignia described in subsection (c)(4) of this section, for any lawful purpose before September 21, 1950, is not prohibited by this section from continuing the lawful use for the same purpose and for the same goods or services.

(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 subsections [1] (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.