Originally published Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Olympic Committee, Olympic Cellars reach agreement
Olympic Cellars Winery has reached an agreement with the U.S. Olympic Committee allowing the winery to keep its name and maintain its Web...
Seattle Times business reporter
Olympic Cellars Winery has reached an agreement with the U.S. Olympic Committee allowing the winery to keep its name and maintain its Web site as long as wine sales east of the Cascade Mountains are not "substantial."
Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The agreement comes nine months after Olympic Cellars, which is located between Port Angeles and Sequim, received a letter from the USOC citing it for violation of the 1998 Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, which gives the committee commercial control of the word "Olympic." The act has been amended to allow businesses on the Olympic Peninsula to use the word in marketing west of the Cascade Mountains.
The winery is on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, has a view of the Olympic Mountains and has used the Olympic name since 1992. It received permission from a USOC trademark attorney in 1999 to use the Web site www.olympiccellars.com.
"Though my Working Girl Wine brand was exempted from all restrictions, the bottom line is that I can't significantly grow a brand that incorporates the winery name, Olympic Cellars," co-owner Kathy Charlton said in a press release Tuesday. "We will be forced to remain small even though the term OLYMPIC is our birthright and heritage."
She called for Congress to amend the 1998 law again to account for changes in electronic commerce and the global economy.
Melissa Allison: 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Retail Report: Pet-supply shops grow while other retailers fade

Gen. David Petraeus: Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
Watch highlights of General David Petraeus discussing the Iraq and Afghanistan War at the Global Leadership Series sponsored by the World Affairs Council.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
shopping

events for Thursday, Jul. 9th
- South Lake Union Farmers Market
- IKEA Summer Sale
- Impulse + Totokaelo Spring Inventory...
- Market Street Shoes and Market Street...
editors' picks
More shopping guides- Key lawmakers warn of Boeing no-strike ultimatum
- Hemmed-in Ballard house to rise above
- Seattle-area homebuilder losing projects to foreclosure
- UW Football | Tailbacks David Freeman, Brandon Johnson ineligible
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
- Drunken man shocks Spain with his generosity
- Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
- Experts work to untangle US, Korea cyber attack
- Nickels gives City Light chief $40,000 bonus
- Coffee City | New "sexpresso" stand coming to Ballard
- Mass. files lawsuit against federal marriage law
907 - Key lawmakers warn of Boeing no-strike ultimatum
602 - Health-plan costs soar for individuals
392 - Mariners game thread, July 8
186 - Judges strike broad ban on Washington's Plan B rules
157 - Teen charged in pit bull attacks ordered held after pleading not guilty
139 - Sheriff's Office: Man not armed when fatally shot by deputy
119 - Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
76 - Pay parking in West Seattle?
68 - Wednesday night notes
66
- Hemmed-in Ballard house to rise above
- Seattle-area homebuilder losing projects to foreclosure
- Key lawmakers warn of Boeing no-strike ultimatum
- Health-plan costs soar for individuals
- Rick Steves' Europe | Beware of new and classic travel scams
- Happy Hour | Ruth's Chris has super rib-eye sliders and quality cocktails
- Trees vs. houses: Narrow, leafy street is last chance for two Madrona homes waiting to be moved
- All You Can Eat | "Top Chef": Seattle chefs tapped for Bravo knife fight in Vegas!
- Grab the kids and hop on Amtrak for a stress-free getaway to Portland
- All You Can Eat | Oceanaire files bankruptcy, shutters Seattle, former chefs weigh in
