USOC protests trademark for The Olympian newspaper

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- The U.S. Olympic Committee is fighting a trademark application filed by The Olympian, the daily newspaper in Olympia.

The USOC filed a notice of opposition last month to an application submitted to the U.S Patent and Trademark Office. The trademark was sought by The McClatchy Co. after buying the paper from Knight-Ridder.

The USOC notice says granting a trademark to the newspaper would falsely suggest a connection to the world sports event, interfering with licensees and sponsors.

But The Olympian reports the 1978 federal law that gave the U.S. Olympic Committee exclusive control of Olympic trademarks included an exception for the Olympic mountains and businesses in Western Washington that use the name.

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