PORT ANGELES – When the Winter Olympic Games overtake Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, just over two years from now, the eyes of the world will turn toward this region, to see a mountain range, a peninsula and hundreds of companies named Olympic.
And if a Web surfer types the words “Olympic wine” into a search engine, Olympic Cellars, “Home of Working Girl Wines,” will pop up.
What a boon for the North Olympic Peninsula winery in a former dairy barn, yes?
Not so fast.
A few months ago Kathy Charlton, principal owner of Olympic Cellars, received a warning letter from the U.S. Olympic Committee.
The letter, written by USOC attorney Kelly Maser, cited the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act of 1998, in which Congress gave the USOC exclusive commercial control of the word “Olympic.”
The federal law grants an exception to businesses on the Olympic Peninsula. They can use the O-word when marketing themselves – but only in Washington west of the Cascade mountains.
Since Olympic Cellars has a Web site, and since Working Girl wines are shipped across the continent, the winery could be in violation of the USOC’s rights.
