Some exhibitors at Atlanta's big sporting goods trade show complained of harassment and vowed never to return after being sued by Olympic officials.
Five suits were filed this week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta by the U.S. Olympic Committee against companies that allegedly displayed counterfeit Olympic merchandise at the Super Show, an industry event that closed Wednesday.Olympic terms and symbols are protected by federal copyright law.
"This is harassment of Third World countries," said Ghazanfar A. Shabbir, chief executive of Ali Trading Co., a Pakistani company whose catalog includes a rugby ball with the word "Olympic" printed in red block letters.
"We've been using that word for many years. It is generic," Shabbir said. "If we have a ball with the word `Atlanta' on it, next time will the mayor come?"
The suits seek injunctions and damages from the companies that were exhibiting such items as soccer balls, T-shirts and accessories emblazoned with Olympic emblems or words.
Olympic officials also said they had issued 33 cease and desist orders against apparel and sporting goods manufacturers who were hawking unauthorized merchandise at the Super Show in Atlanta this week and at an apparel trade show in Las Vegas last week. Such letters typically are sent in the hopes of stopping illegal activity without a lawsuit.
Olympic officials, who jealously guard their copyrights, said they have no choice but to go after violators.
"The financial support for the 1996 Olympic Games and the U.S. Olympic team comes almost totally from private sources - from sponsorships, broadcast fees, licensing programs and from individual Americans," Bill McCahan, chief marketing officer for the Atlanta Games, said Wednesday.
"It's critical to protect these sources of funding from infringements by companies who have contributed nothing," he said.
K.H. Naveed Azam, vice president of Assac Industries, a Pakistani company that also was sued, said he had no idea that one of his products, a football with the word "Olympic" on it, was illegal. Azam added that he received no warning before being handed the suit on Tuesday.
"All of us are shocked," Azam said. "We are a small company. We are not like Nike. We can't afford to stay in this expensive country and fight this problem."
The suits were filed against Comme-Ci Comme-Ca Apparel of Bayshore, N.Y.; Joey Coolers Inc. of Darien, Ill.; and Assac Industries, Ali Trading Co. and Khalidsons, all of Sialkot, Pakistan.
Shabbir said an Olympic representative, whom he assumed was a buyer, stopped by the Ali booth on Monday and asked for a catalog. The next day, he was served with the suit.
Dennis Koonce, chief executive officer of Joey's, declined to comment on the suit. He said he was not selling any Olympic merchandise, though his booth had included an Olympic prop.
Five other companies were sued by the USOC and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games at last year's Super Show. Those companies either settled or pleaded no contest, said Darby Coker, an ACOG spokesman.
The copyright infringement suits were the latest moves in a busy week for Olympic lawyers. On Monday, ACOG sued two ticket brokers it said were selling seats to the Summer Games at inflated prices.
George Pollington, vice president for one of the brokers, Pall Mall Corporate Hospitality of Jersey City, N.J., said Wednesday his lawyers were discussing a "quick and amicable" settlement with ACOG.