Great example. That’s actually happening in Seattle right now. There is a mountain range to the west of the city called the Olympics. Apparently the US Olympic Committee is demanding that local businesses stop using “Olympic” in their names. The name of the mountain range and that of many of the businesses probably predates the modern Olympic Games. In the US, the USOC owns the word “Olympic”.
Actually, I think the non-Bayer aspirin sellers in other countries just call them headache tablets or something. Lots of people wouldn’t know what acetylsalicylic acid is.
The reason “aspirin” lost its tm status in the US is that after WWI, the US property of Bayer was confiscated by the US government as war reparations. That included its trademarks as well as a factory. Through some complication (details of which I don’t remember), the trademark was lost to public domain rather than being owned by another company.
I’m fairly certain that “thermos” became generic many years ago. That doesn’t mean the other makers of them have to use the term, though.
I believe that law cited by liebfels has a special clause allowing businesses in certain counties of Washington to use the name “Olympic” in their names. However, it’s only the counties in the Olympic peninsula plus Thurston County (where Olympia, WA is) and those do not include Seattle.
Styrofoam is still a trademark; nylon was never a trademark, although lots of people think it was; not 100% sure, but I don’t think spandex was either.
An interesting offshoot of this problem is how in some foreign markets, the trademark is considered the generic by the populace. Advertisers have to do some tricky legal dancing to make sure that the consumer knows that their product is the same kind of cookies as Oreos but not piss of Nabisco in the process.
A very good example of this is in New Guinea, where Tok Pisin advertising often deals with this problem.
Reading the “Olympic” copyright gives me the impression that using the word is only disallowed if you are intending to give the impression that you have something to do with the Olympic games. If you instead intend to use it as an adjective for your business, it should be allowed.
See for example
Olympic Steel
Olympic Airways
Royal Olympic Cruises
Olympic Arms complete with this disclaimer:
And that was just what I could find quickly that was not in Washington state. It seems to me that if you are not trying to associate yourself with the games, you can use “Olympic” all you want.
Kamandi, that’s just astounding. I wonder if the authors of the Amateur Sports Act even thought about it for an instant.
There was also the absurd case of Sony Florendo, a Filipino restaurateur in Baltimore, who was sued by the electronics/media megacorp Sony in the 80’s to stop calling her restaurant “Sony’s” after herself. She eventually had to back down in the face of the litigation cost.
BTW: In the case of Bayer’s Aspirin (generic: acetylsalicylic acid, ASA to pharmacists) and Heroin (generic: diacetylmorphine – active ingredient in cough syrups), part of the reparations collected by the US against Germany after WWI was the confiscation/voiding of German “war industries” trademarks.
(From 1920 to 1988 the name “Bayer Aspirin” belonged to Sterling Drug, which was finally bought out in 88, by… Bayer AG)
I live in Seattle. I looked in my White Pages(which just happens a "Proud Sponsor of the US Olympic Teams 
) and counted over one hundred seperate businesses in the greater Seattle area whose names start with “Olympic”. That does not include any on the names that start with “Olympia”, “Olympicview”, etc., just “Olympic”. That would mean over one hundred separate lawsuits filed against businesses in the greater Seattle area, not to mention the hundreds of others elsewhere in Washington State, then the ensuing appeals, etc.
I suspect that the law may be ammended to include the counties of King, Pierce, and Snohomish. Not to mention the dozen or so others that have a clear view of the Olympic Mountains on a clear day.
As for the percentage of those businesses which were established before 1965 or whenever the law was finalized, I am still researching.
There are a lot of headache pills and aspirin is used for a lot more than headaches, esp. now with its heart benefits so touted.
The Olympic Committee has sold out. It sells its name to various companies, who can say, “Sponsored by the Olympics,” or “Olympic approved,” or the like.
I live in Seattle. I looked in my White Pages(which just happens a "Proud Sponsor of the US Olympic Teams ) and counted over one hundred seperate businesses in the greater Seattle area whose names start with “Olympic”. That does not include any on the names that start with “Olympia”, “Olympicview”, etc., just “Olympic”. That would mean over one hundred separate lawsuits filed against businesses in the greater Seattle area, not to mention the hundreds of others elsewhere in Washington State, then the ensuing appeals, etc.
I suspect that the law may be ammended to include the counties of King, Pierce, and Snohomish. Not to mention the dozen or so others that have a clear view of the Olympic Mountains on a clear day.
As for the percentage of those businesses which were established before 1965 or whenever the law was finalized, I am still researching.
If I understand patent, trademark, and copyright law correctly, an organization cannot register a word that was in common use prior to their claim on it. “Olympic” has been in common use for over 2000 years. Trademarking a phrase or specific combination of words is easier. Making up a new word and trademarking it is a cinch (e.g. Pentium vs. 586).
Now, that does not prevent trademark holders from getting ridiculous in their attempts to get others to stop using a mark to which they may have a tenuous claim. OTOH, they are usually pretty sucessful if the usurper makes misleading claims of affiliation. None of the businesses with “Olympic” in their names can get away with using the “five interlocked rings” symbol or implying in any other way that they are endorsed by the IOC. If an arcade owner tried to name his business “Olympic Games” he’d probably have a long, uphill battle in front of him. If he were to use “Olympic Video Games” with a picture of Zeus playing SuperSpaceInfiltrators, the IOC would probably not be able to force a change.
-----Shudder----- In the same sentence??? :eek: