Media + Entertainment

Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme, a partner in Pryor Cashman’s Intellectual Property and Media + Entertainment Groups, was featured in a recent Bloomberg BNA article examining what have been described as “fierce” trademark enforcement practices employed by the U.S. Olympic Committee (“USOC”).  

As the 2016 Summer Games approach, the USOC is cautioning individuals against incorporating various Olympic logos and phrases into their promotions and advertising materials, unless they have paid for the rights to do so.  Among the terms off-limits to non-sponsors are “Olympian,” “Team USA,” “Road to Rio” and “Pyeongchang 2018,” although the USOC also has more than 200 registered and/or pending U.S. trademarks, which are valued in the hundreds of millions and afforded a “super” level of protection.    

The Rationale for “Super” Trademark Protection

In the past, the USOC has faced criticism for its vigorous, zero-tolerance trademark enforcement policy, particularly from small businesses who may not have the large sums needed to purchase the rights to use Olympic marks.  Yet, as Finguerra-DuCharme explained to Bloomberg, under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act of 1998, the USOC has authority to command higher-than-customary sponsorship fees for its trademarks.  Coupled with expectations from sponsors who pay a premium to use Olympic logos and phrases, and therefore do not want the value of their investments diluted by unauthorized uses, Fingeurra-DuCharme went on to say, “the only way the Olympics can succeed is by having exclusivity for their sponsors to use those terms.  Otherwise, why would you spend so much money to sponsor?”

Read the full Bloomberg BNA article, here.

More About Finguerra-DuCharme

Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme is recognized as a “Leading Trademark Lawyer” by World Trademark Review, and is the winner of Lexology and International Law Office’s 2016 Client Choice Award in Intellectual Property: Trademarks.  To learn more about her practice at Pryor Cashman, please visit here.