Re: [CR]Was: World's Rainbow Stripes. Now: Olympic rings

(Example: Framebuilders:Doug Fattic)

Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:23:02 -0400
To: Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "John Betmanis" <johnb@oxford.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Was: World's Rainbow Stripes. Now: Olympic rings
In-Reply-To: <000b01c88896$ecd1bf20$0300a8c0@ourlaptop>
References: <000001c8866f$938c5ac0$0501010a@int.irl.cri.nz> <8CA54C3D56C09D3-A74-29DD@WEBMAIL-MC16.sysops.aol.com> <BAY130-W457087F9C16F3C771776FCA2060@phx.gbl>


At 09:25 PM 17/03/2008 -0400, Dr. Paul Williams wrote:
>The mid-50s Carpenters had the Olympic rings on the headbadge as seen in Ken
>Sanford's 1956 Carpenter:
>
>http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=dynamicalbum.PopularAlbu m&g2_albumId=163986&g2_itemId=164669
>
>My 49 Carpenter doesn't have these rings but rather the shop address

I notice that while the colours of the rings on the 1956 headbadge may be in the correct order, the layout is upside down; the outer rings should be in the top row. Maybe that was a way to avoid trademark infringement. Many "Olympic" decals being sold don't actually use the correct colours or order, perhaps for the very same reason. The IOC appears to guard their trademarks very jealously, almost as much as the Disney organization. With the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the organizers are coming down hard on local businesses that have the word "Olympic" in their name. Of course, you wouldn't want shoddy merchadise being sold with Olympic logos by get-rich-quick entrepreneurs, so I can see their point. Unfortunately, other businesses with very deep pockets can probably buy the rights even though they have no merit.

John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada