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August 30, 2004

The Olympic trademark: Was Bush Wrong?

Now that the Olympics are finished, many are reviewing the controversies.  One of the big ones was the political ad for the sitting president's reelection campaign.

The ad states:

In 1972 there were 40 democracies in the world. Today, 120. . . . And this Olympics there will be two more free nations. And two fewer terrorist regimes. . . . freedom is spreading through the world like a sunrise.

There was quite a bit of hubbub about President Bush using the Olympic name for political gain.  Some members of the Iraqi soccer team expressed a desire to remain out of any such advertisements.  Nine time gold medal winner Carl Lewis also voiced his protest of the ad.  Additionally, the International Olympic Committee and the US Olympic Committee (USOC) both asked for a cessation of the advertisement.  The reason stated was 36 U.S.C. § 220507(b) requires that "[t]he [Olympic Committee] shall be nonpolitical and may not promote the candidacy of an individual seeking public office."  Additionally, the USOC has statutorily exclusive rights in the terms "Olympic," and other derivative terms such as "Olympiad" and the five rings, under 36 U.S.C § 220506(a)(4).  Thus, the campaign may have over-stepped some bounds in refusing to pull the ad before the end of the games.

However, there is also an argument that there was no confusion as to the source of the advertisement.  If so, the USOC was not promoting the candidacy of Bush, and the statute was not violated.  Since the statute appears to limit the USOC, not the president, the statute could be considered inapplicable.  However, the statutory trademark in the word "Olympic" still gives the USOC the exclusive right to the name.

Since the games are over, and the commercials have stopped, I think it's unlikely that anyone will take action on any violations that may have occurred.  However, a failure to take action may result in a dilution of the trademark.  The consequences of that could reach far beyond a simple political commercial.

Posted by at 10:31 AM.
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