Olympic Newsdesk - ROC and USOC Team Up

(ATR) The NOCs of Russia and the United States will be partners for the near future including preparations for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.

The USOC and the ROC formalized a sport cooperation agreement on Saturday in Copenhagen, Denmark. The agreement is valid until December 2014.

"It is a framework agreement, which outlines our cooperation with the USOC for the future and stipulates that the Americans are ready to actively participate in programs developed by Sochi-2014 Organizing Committee," Viktor Khotochkin of the ROC told RIA Novasti.

The former Cold War adversaries will support each other through various activities and enhanced communication. The agreement encourages regular visits and cooperation in areas including coaching, referees, research, event management, marketing and medicine.

"Russia has made very important contributions to the Olympic Movement and this agreement underlines the USOC's determination to continue to work together with our international counterparts to strengthen the Olympic Movement," said USOC President Larry Probst in a press release. "From the performances of our athletes on the field of play, to our coaching and administration systems, to the organization of the Olympic Games, our countries have a lot to learn from each other."

The two organizations will share information to combat doping and unsportsmanlike activities.

"America is a friend of Russia both on and off the field of play," said ROC President Leonid Tyagachev. "We look forward to working very closely together with the USOC to share our experiences, exchange ideas and opinions, and mutually support each other in the upcoming years, especially in view of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi."

USOC battles Newspaper

The USOC is fighting a trademark application filed by The Olympian daily newspaper from Olympia, Wash., to trademark the name.

The paper's parent company McClatchy Co. filed the trademark application in October of 2006 after buying the paper from Knight-Ridder. Last month, the USOC filed a notice protesting the newspaper's right to a trademark.

The 12-page notice filed by the USOC claims that awarding a trademark to the newspaper would damage the committee's “relationships with its licensees, its partners and its sponsors, and thereby, its main source of revenue to support U.S. athletes.”

In 1978, Congress gave the USOC exclusive control over numerous trademarks in the United States, including Olympic, Olympiad and Paralympic. Congress amended the law in 1998.

McClatchy lawyers contend that the law includes an exception that recognizes Washington State’s unique claim to the Olympic name. The exception covers the geographic region of Washington State which was named prior to Feb. 6, 1998.

Briefly…

…Merchandise for Chicago 2016 is still on sale at the Macy flagship store on State Street in Chicago and online. On Ebay, orange Chicago 2016 bracelets are listed for less than $1.

…Russia's Lubov Shutova beat Canada's Sherraine Schalm 9-8 in overtime of women's epee final at the FIE World Championships in Antalya, Turkey. In men's sabre, Germany's Nicolas Limbach defeated Romania's Rares Dumitrescu 15-11 on the final day of individual competition on Monday. The championships will conclude on Thursday.

…In the team men's foil final on Tuesday, Italy defeated Germany 45-41 for gold. In the women's sabre Ukraine beat France in the finals. The championships will conclude on Thursday.

Written by Sam Steinberg.