Last week, an article in the Wall Street Journal focused on the enforcement of the trademark that the United States Olympic Committee has in the word "Olympics."  Thus, anyone who wants to call some sort of competition an "Olympic" contest, or anyone who uses any derivation of that word, is asking for potential issues should the USOC get word of that use.  What the article did not address was the issue that this raises for broadcasters and advertisers.  Just as the trademarked term "Super Bowl" can cause problems for companies that use it in advertisements without permission of the NFL, advertisers should refrain from the use of the term Olympics in connection with promoting their products.   Companies have paid huge rights fees to get the exclusive rights to use the Olympics in their advertising campaigns, usually getting exclusive rights in a particular product category.  These companies and the Olympic committee do not like to see local advertisers appropriating the use of the Olympics name (or the interlocking circles that comprise their symbol) in someone else’s ad.  So, just as electronic stores promote the sale of their big screen TVs before the Super Bowl by talking about the "Big Game" rather than using the trademarked phrase, advertisers must use care and avoid any trademark infringement by trying to tie their products to the Olympics during this upcoming event.