Olympics domain

[calyps]

Hello All,

I have an Olympics domain (domain removed) and have build a forum. However, my concerns are related to trademark. So, my question is

1. can i sell this domain? If not then wat is the future
2. can i develop this domain? like a forum - already on it? if not wat is the future?


Thanks,

[draggar]

If the domain has the word "Olympics" - it is a TM issue.

They can also be quite aggressive in protecting their TM.

Here's their extent:

There used to be a competition for school-aged children called "Olympics of the Mind" (students would be challenged with problems that required creative thinking as well as problem solving skill to solve the problems and then had to show their results against other teams in the same age group). Non-profit and highly promoted education.

The IOC sued them and they had to change the name to "Odyssey of the Mind".

[dominator]

i had an olympic domain (i did not know about the TM, it was a LONG time ago)

netsol & usoc took it from me because of TM
some dutch guy registered it in 1999

now it uses netsol parking!!!
featuring smartseekerz's ads

so netsol is allowed to infringe TMs
(i never parked it or used any ads)

(servers NS1.LAMEDELEGATION.NET & NS2.LAMEDELEGATION.NET, so obviously netsol parked it!!!)

[Gerry]

If it is related to the "Olympic" games then yes, big TM issues.

You can thank domainers for this aggressive stanch.

When Salt Lake City won the games, the city of Salt Lake and the IOC were not even able to reg their own domains due to all the cybersquatting.

Tens of thousands of domains were regged.

This was perhaps the first major media coverage of domain names and "cybersquatting" that I can recall.

[calyps]

So i cant develop it as well?

and what is the future for this domain

[Gerry]

So i cant develop it as well?

If it is truly associated with THE Olympic Games, then any time and effort and money spent would be down the drain if you get a C&D.

This is really a no brainer.

Future? If it meets the criteria of falling within TM of the IOC, there is no future.

You would have to take it in a totally different route than anything related to the Olympic Games, Olympic Paints, and any of the other TM holders.

Even food. There are so many TM's on this word that any one could claim it beyond the IOC.

[draggar]

If it is related to the "Olympic" games then yes, big TM issues.

You can thank domainers for this aggressive stanch.

Don't blame it on domainers - the issue that I mentioned in reference to Olympics / Odyssey of the Mind was back in the mid 1980s - the IOC has had this stance for a long time.

While the Salt Lake Olympics did pose an issue with cybersquatters, it was not where this attitude began. What next, are they going to after the Special Olympics?

[calyps]

If it is truly associated with THE Olympic Games, then any time and effort and money spent would be down the drain if you get a C&D.

This is really a no brainer.

Future? If it meets the criteria of falling within TM of the IOC, there is no future.

You would have to take it in a totally different route than anything related to the Olympic Games, Olympic Paints, and any of the other TM holders.

Even food. There are so many TM's on this word that any one could claim it beyond the IOC.

So, what do you suggest is the next steps here for me? I have not spend anything apart from domain registration yet. cant i get my money back either?

[Gerry]

Don't blame it on domainers - the issue that I mentioned in reference to Olympics / Odyssey of the Mind was back in the mid 1980s - the IOC has had this stance for a long time.

While the Salt Lake Olympics did pose an issue with cybersquatters, it was not where this attitude began. What next, are they going to after the Special Olympics?

I will disagree on this.

None of this would be an issue if it had not been domainers regging someone else's property and TM by the thousands in the first place.

Who am I to blame? The city of Salt Lake and the IOC for having such great names/words protected?

It was the Salt Lake games that the IOC got real pissed about and came out swinging. This was a major media event of the time.

Now the issue you are talking about may have been covered in the media, but I can recall nothing major coverage up to the time of the Olympics.

These TM regged domains were in the thousands.


The IOC has been unwavering in its desire to control the Olympic brand on the Internet. Starting in 2000 when they filed suit against over 1,800 holders of domains that contained the word "Olympic" or variations thereof, and continuing through the years as they clawed back domains that tried to imitate Olympic franchises by containing word combinations with Vancouver, Beijing and their associated years - the IOC is inevitably successful. Often the IOC registers domain names on behalf and in advance of potential bidders in order to circumvent the problem from the start.

IOC, USOC Sue for Enjoin 'Olympic' Domain Names Alexandria, Virginia, July 21, 2000 -- With less than two months before the start of the 2000 Summer Olympics, the Olympic sponsored Web sites have yet to generate the amount of traffic and revenue that officials had hoped for. In response to the disappointing volume. One reason may be the attempts by cybersquatters to register Internet domain names using the term "Olympics."

In an attempt to direct more traffic to the official Olympic Web sites, the International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee and the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee filed a joint lawsuit in U.S. District Court against more than 1,800 registered Internet domain names using the words "Olympic" or "Olympiad." The suit is focused on correcting the domain names of sites that falsely appear to be officially associated with the 2000, 2002, 2004 or 2006 Olympic games. The case involves more addresses than any previous single lawsuit.

According to the Washington Post, the lawsuit, filed on June 20, is not intended to collect damages, rather the committees have asked the violators to either turn over their registered domain names or delete them from circulation. According to the groups' attorney, "several hundred" of the Web sites have since agreed to relinquish their control of the misleading domain names.

Special Olympics? You better believe domains/sites relating to Special Olympics are also being body slammed. Anyone that has a site or a domain not authorized to use the word Special Olympics can wait patiently for that C&D letter.

[calyps]

so, why doesnt olympic committee blocks there domains before they are available to sell just like other major words?

[dominator]

of course, you can have the word "olympic" under certain circumstances...

http://www.olympic.com

[Gerry]

so, why doesnt olympic committee blocks there domains before they are available to sell just like other major words?

What, reg every possible combination possible with letters, typos, numbers, hyphens?

Have 1,527,696,231 domains just so others don't get them?

[calyps]

What, reg every possible combination possible with letters, typos, numbers, hyphens?

Have 1,527,696,231 domains just so others don't get them?

at least the main ones like (olympics.xyz or olympic.abc)? and why are they really bothered about all the possible combinations?

[Gerry]

at least the main ones like (olympics.xyz or olympic.abc)? and why are they really bothered about all the possible combinations?

It appears that you have as many questions as there are possible combinations.

How many legal answers are you looking for?

[calyps]

basically , all i am looking for is to understand if i continue with what i have on my domain (A forum) or close the website ... but in that case any way i can get my money back?

[dominator]

no money back

[NostraDomainus]

I suggest you call a lawyer if you have more legal questions and go back to reading more about domaining on this forum if you have domaining questions - imo, both are the best sources of info. for what you keep asking about.