Small business owner Christine Mackay believes her company embodies the very best of the Olympic spirit.
Her business trains first-aid professionals, and Ms. Mackay sought a name that captured her desire to offer superior training to aspiring emergency responders.
In the three years since Olympic First-Aid Services was founded in the British Columbia Lower Mainland, Ms. Mackay feels that she has held true to that mission.
But Olympic First-Aid Services has run afoul of The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC). The organizing body for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver has given Ms. Mackay until March 1 to change her company name or face the full legal weight of the Olympic rings.
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The potential legal showdown with Games organizers could ruin her company, she says.
It's a battle that is likely to be repeated on many fronts over the next four years as VANOC clamps down on those who might infringe on the Olympic trademark.
"As the host of the 2010 Winter Games, VANOC is under an obligation to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), our sponsors and government partners to protect the Olympic Brand," said Dave Cobb, Vancouver 2010 senior vice-president of revenue, marketing and communications said in a release.
"We will continue to work cooperatively with individuals and companies to ensure they do not infringe the Olympic brand and we will continue to inform the Canadian public about the importance of brand protection.
"On occasion and only as a last resort, it may be necessary for VANOC to pursue legal action to properly protect the investment made by our sponsors and government partners."
Ms. Mackay contends that co-operation has been absent. She understands the need to protect Olympic trademarks, but contends VANOC hasn't been open to discussion. Despite attempts to speak with VANOC officials about the name issue, the first she heard from the organization was when she was served court papers.
"They have to show some kind of teeth, but it's the way they are dealing with it. There are lots of solutions other than bankrupting our small business in Vancouver," she said. "We never even got a phone call from [VANOC] stating anything other than we had to get rid of our name, get rid of our domain name, end of story."
Ms. Mackay approached the Vancouver 2010 bid committee three years ago to ask about potential problems with the name she was considering for her business.
According to Ms. Mackay, she was told that the Olympic name was not trademarked in B.C. at that time, and that there were no restrictions on it. But as soon as the Games were awarded to Vancouver that changed.
According to Ms. Mackay, VANOC has not been consistent about its defence of the Olympic trademark.
"There's about seven or eight [companies] that have only been developed in the last year and they haven't been contacted [by VANOC]," she said. "VANOC has been asked repeatedly why they haven't contacted other companies. There doesn't seem to be any rationale."
Thus far, there have been a few isolated cases, including the celebrated case of a small pizzeria in downtown Vancouver, called Olympic Pizza. The long-time family-run business has vowed to fight in court to preserve its name.
Perhaps because of negative fallout from the Olympic Pizza story, VANOC has set a distinction between established companies using the Olympic name, and recent startups that use the Olympic moniker.
VANOC stated in a press release issued Jan. 25th, that companies in existence before Jan. 1, 1998, that use the Olympic name might have to change their name; while companies in existence after Jan. 1, 1998 would face lawsuits if their names were not changed.
In their release, VANOC stated: "Intentional and unintentional steps taken to make false associations with the Olympic Games, and unauthorized use of the Olympic Brand, undermines the rights of Canadian companies that have committed significant financial resources to become Olympic sponsors and support the ambitions of Canadian athletes."
Ms. Mackay wants to find some middle ground. When she named her company there was no guarantee that the Games were coming to Vancouver, and she consulted the bid committee beforehand.
"Initially, in Nov. 2005, when we first went to the media with this story, [VANOC] said they were working on solutions with the companies in the Lower Mainland, but it was very clear, the statement they made about 1998, that there were no hard and fast rules, and they would deal with each company on a case-by-case basis," said Ms. Mackay.
The case of Olympic First-Aid Services illustrates the increasing importance of branding major events and the evolving nature of sports marketing. With sponsorship dollars becoming ever more important to the bottom line of sporting events and sports organizations, policing those who infringe on copyrighted images is becoming more common.
And no matter what challenges Canadian businesses and VANOC encounter in British Columbia, it pales when compared to the struggle organizers of the 2008 Beijing Games have on their hands.
China's trade in "knock-off" items sold in burgeoning markets in some of the nation's larger cities has been targeted by law enforcement in that country.
Business Week reported recently that between July, 2004, and September, 2005, 6.77 million businesses and 283,000 markets across mainland China had been investigated for counterfeiting, with 158 people prosecuted and a total of $46.5-million in fines levied. Olympic memorabilia figures prominently in many of those investigations.
Ms. Mackay meanwhile, is just trying to position her company in the best competitive position possible.
"Our courses and programs are quite a bit elevated beyond what is available out there. Our instructors are some of the best in the province. The courses we are trying to deliver are the best in the province. And we are working hard at achieving higher standards so there is no other word to describe us," she said, explaining her rationale behind the naming of her company.
"Our clients know us as just that. It is ingrained in our company. Changing the name, our company wouldn't mean the same thing."
A fundraiser to help Olympic First-Aid in their court battle has been scheduled for Sat. Feb. 25th in Vancouver.
