An Olympic Intellectual Property Rights Protection Forum was held
in Beijing on Friday to call for more protection for
Olympic-related designs such as emblems and the mascot.
The forum marked the second anniversary of the unveiling of
Regulations on the Protection of the Olympic Marks.
Officials from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of
the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG)
vowed to highlight the importance of protecting Olympic
intellectual property rights.
"The Olympic emblems symbolize the Olympic spirit and are the
core intellectual property of the Olympics," said Wang Wei, BOCOG
vice-president and secretary-general. "Implementing the Regulation
meets usual international practices and is a great
accomplishment."
Since the implementation of the regulation, there have been 38
Olympic emblems registered at the Trademark Office of the State
Administration for Industry and Commerce. The Beijing
Administration for Industry and Commerce has dealt with 144
violations and handed fines to the tune of 840,000 yuan
(US$101,000) in the past two years.
Committee officials say the regulation efficiently protects the
Olympic rights and builds a healthy legal and marketing environment
for a best ever Olympic Games in history, committee officials
said.
To keep its promise of protecting the Olympic intellectual
property rights, the BOCOG will continue its efforts to protect its
intellectual property, officials said.
Those efforts include ongoing promotion about rights protection
as part of the Olympic cultural festivals and youth education
campaign, a marketing plan that includes only certified products,
customer service, enhancing the rights protection on retail
markets, advertising and export markets, and severely punishing
violators.
Marketing plans usually play a major role in income generation
for Olympic games.
To date, the Athens Olympics has earned more than 200 million
euro (US$247 million) from the sales on souvenirs with Olympic
marks.
(China Daily April 3, 2004)