It’s Our Name And You Can’t Use It Olympic Peninsula Merchants Tangle With Olympic Committee

Will the National Park Service have to change the name of Olympic National Park?

Will state residents have to stop referring to the body of land between Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean as the Olympic Peninsula?

Hard to say.

Several Washington companies are finding themselves in hot water for apparently trespassing on turf zealously staked out by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Atlanta Games.

Ned Schumann of Port Townsend, who runs an Internet-access service, wanted a trademark to protect its name, OlympusNet. But when he filed his application, he got a letter from the Washington, D.C., law firm that represents the USOC and the Atlanta Games, threatening legal action unless Schumann withdrew his application.

A 1978 federal law gives the committee exclusive rights to the words “Olympic,” “Olympiad” or any “combination or simulation thereof” that might create confusion about whether the business or product is associated with the international athletic competitions.

Schumann managed to work out a deal in which he withdrew his application in exchange for being able to use the OlympusNet name - but only for his Internet service.

“You and I might think that ‘OlympusNet’ is not that close to ‘Olympic,”’ Schumann said. “But I don’t have $60,000 to prove that.”

Neither did an Internet provider in Silverdale - now called Silverlink - which until June 1 was known as OlympicNet.

“We got a letter saying that if we did not cease and desist using the name - especially the domain name ‘olympic.net’ - we would be subject to legal action,” Silverlink production manager Steve Stuart said.

“Even though we felt that we might be able to fight it and possibly win, it’s Goliath vs. David. And this time David decided not to throw stones.”

Internet providers aren’t the only targets in the shadow of the Olympic Mountains.

Dan Youra of Port Ludlow changed his Olympic Publishing company’s name to Dan Youra Studios to avoid the USOC’s wrath. The committee did approve the title of his Olympic Peninsula Guide, but only so long as the word “Olympic” is joined with “Peninsula” throughout.

Not everyone bends to the USOC’s will.

William Littlejohn wrote the committee seeking permission to use “Olympic” in the name of his businesses, Olympic Health Services and Olympic Ambulance in Sequim.

Permission denied.

“It was just that simple,” Littlejohn said. “They said, ‘We don’t allow anybody to use our name.’

“As if they’ve been around longer than the Olympic Mountains.”

Littlejohn decided to ignore the committee.

“If they’re going to come down on me, they’re going to have to come down on a lot of people,” he said.

True. At least 3,090 businesses nationwide - and at least 1,118 in Washington - have “Olympic” in their titles.

Under the federal law, businesses that have used the O-word since before Sept. 21, 1950, are exempt.

“For those companies that have grandfathered rights, they’re OK,” said James Bikoff, the attorney who has sent many of the letters on the USOC’s behalf.