Season 2 Ep #8: Carrying a Torch for IP at the Olympics
This week IP Goes Pop! carries a torch for IP at the Olympics. Join co-hosts and Volpe Koenig Shareholders, Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue, for a relay through the intellectual property involved in putting on a global athletic competition that sometimes turns its top competitors into household names and “brands.”
In this episode, Michael and Joe dive into the trademarked words, phrases and logos owned or controlled by the International, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committees and the rights surrounding them. They also look at the long tradition the Olympics has in driving technological innovation and the way athletes can promote themselves before, during, and after the games.
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Timestamps:
2:10 Famous Olympic Athletes and How their Images Are/Can be used
- Caitlyn Jenner
- McKayla Maroney – Gymnast, “the smirk” and advertising campaign that came from it
- Simone Biles – Gymnast and social media celebrity
5:55 Dan vs. Dave Reebok Campaign 1992 Olympics
7:25 Reebok Sponsor’s Dream Team 1992
- Michael Jordan (Nike brand ambassador), patriot and brand protector
8:30 Winter Olympic Fame
- Apolo Ohno, short track speed skater
- Tara Lipinski & Johnny Weir, figure skaters
9:10 The Olympics and the Wheaties Box
11:32 Olympic Movies
- Miracle (2004) - Depicts the 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team’s historic defeat of the Soviet Union team
- I Tonya (2017) – Dramatization of the Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan figure skating controversy
- Cool Runnings (1993) – Loosely based on the true story of the 1988 Jamaican Bobsled Team
- Cutting Edge (1992) – Fictionalized pairing of an injured hockey player and challenging figure skater who compete as mixed pair figure skaters
- Blades of Glory (2007) - “World winter sports games”
17:08 Branding the Olympics & Paralympics
- Brand usage guidelines Team USA
- IOC Rule 40 - Advertising blackout period
- Fair use (non-commercial) vs. commercial use
- The Challenge of Trying to Compete with Team USOC- Olympic Gyro & Knitting Olympics
- The Five Rings - Nairobi Treaty on Protection of the Olympic Symbol
25:41 Olympic Technology - Sports Broadcasting Patents & Innovations
- Hawk-Eye Ball Tracking (GB 2,357,207 A)
- Twinscan (JP 2014236341A) - water synthesis camera
- Abyss Camera - stitching camera feeds together
- The Olympic Torch (US. No. 6,733,282) - The Coleman Company
33:22 Joe’s & Michael’s favorite summer and winter Olympic sport
- Joe - 100-meter dash & curling
- Michael - Race walking!
35:48 IP Takeaways