[This is an apology to the USOC, its spokesman, Patrick Sandusky, and law clerk Brett Hirsch]
Gentlemen:
Please accept my heartfelt apology for the backlash that you and your offices received earlier this week in response to the online posting of Mr. Hirsch’s business correspondence to Casey Forbes, founder of Ravelry, claiming that Ravelry’s use of the term “Ravelympics” may be infringing upon the Olympic trademark. As anyone capable of using Google now knows, the Knitters (and yes, a capital “K” is appropriate here) got very upset at what we felt was the insulting tone of Mr. Hirsch’s letter.
The alleged inflammatory remark certainly sparked a flame within Ravelry, resulting in a call to take it to social media to right the wrong. I can’t imagine how many e-mails, phone calls, or letters you received, not to mention all the Facebook posts, tweets, and personal blog updates threatening to boycott the Olympics and all of its corporate sponsors, and demanding an apology for the alleged insult. Which we got – from Mr. Sandusky himself – but you know what? That apparently wasn’t good enough, so we demanded a revised apology. Which again, we received. And now Knitters everywhere are rejoicing at our power to enact change in the world.
I am so embarrassed.
Really? We were wrong. The USOC not only had the right, but the obligation to defend the Olympic trademark, regardless of the nature of alleged infringement. And I understand that Mr. Hirsch was just trying to accomplish the assignment given to him, and he was the unfortunate person who happened to sign that particular letter. I’m sure that many of those same letters are mailed out every day. The online name-calling and demands for Mr. Hirsch to personally apologize or to be fired were completely and utterly out of line.
By our collective actions responding to the letter, we have done exactly what we were accused of. We disrespected and denigrated the lifelong efforts of the US Olympic Team by throwing a temper tantrum when we didn’t get our way. Shame on us.
I thank you for your dedication to upholding the law and defending your client’s rights. Mr. Hirsch, I wish you the best of luck as you complete your law degree and take the bar exam next year. And I for one will be cheering on and supporting Team USA as they compete in London. Not all Knitters are nuts – I promise.
I think sometimes in our haste to not be seen as those crazy knitters we forget how many of us there really are, and that we don’t have to defend the entire knitting race in social media, only ourselves. I for one prefer to use these things as good experiences to do research and learn more about what the “rules” really are (and I kept my mouth shut publicly about the whole nonsense). It makes me sad that people with good intentions sometimes in their vigor come off as lunatics.
Amen to that!
I’m not sure the Ravelympics is even in violation of any trademark law. Ravelry didn’t even use the word “Olympics” which according to http://www.inta.org/TrademarkBasics/FactSheets/Pages/ProtectionofOlympicTrademarks.aspx, is the world that is not allowed to be used. Is “Ravelympics” close enough? Regardless, it was not very sportman-like behavior for either party to use the words “denigrated the lifelong efforts of the US Olympic Team” It’s really about money, and not about the love of the game. Trademarks or not, The Ravelympics ( or whatever name that is legally acceptable ) does NOT denigrating the lifelong efforts of the Olympics, but instead promotes team spirit. That is where the cease and desist letter got it wrong. However, two wrongs don’t make a right, and the Knitters should not have been nasty in retaliation. Love your blog, podcast, and your right to an opinion!