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USOC puts arm on �Olympic� companies Many change their names to avoid a legal fight The Associated Press SEATTLE � The U.S. Olympic Committee is pressing a handful of Northwest companies to drop the word "Olympic" from their names. The committee has had a trademark on the word since the passage more than 20 years ago of the federal Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. "While the business may not be in the same area, it dilutes our name," USOC spokesman Mike Moran said. "What if it was Coca Cola Venture Capital? Wouldn�t you think Coca Cola would act on it?" One of the companies put on notice was Olympic Venture Partners. The 18-year-old firm formally changed its name Wednesday to OVP Venture Partners to avoid a court battle. It received a letter from the committee in April. "We looked at the letter and said, �How in the world can we be a problem?� " said Gerry Langeler, whose firm focuses on investments in start-up technology companies. "We took our name from what we could see out of our window in Kirkland on a clear day." Langeler was referring to the Olympic Mountains, the moniker source for more than 100 businesses in the Seattle phone book. But the committee is targeting only those companies that have some national presence. The issue has cropped up before. Radio station operator Olympic Broadcasting changed its name in 1988 to Olympia Broadcasting after legal threats from the committee. In 1997, Bellevue-based Olympic Boat Centers received a letter saying it should discontinue its Web site, OlympicBoats.com, because it infringed on the USOC trademark. Olympic renamed its Web site to BoatNut.com. Moran said thousands of businesses in the United States have been asked to change their name or logo in the past 20 years. Four local "Olympics" have received letters from the committee in recent months. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.