A bitter legal dispute over the use of the “Special Olympics” brand in Chicago has been resolved with a confidential settlement that has so far not scrubbed the global organization’s name from a prominent local charity’s website.
Special Olympics Inc. filed a federal lawsuit in March 2022 alleging that Special Children’s Charities of Chicago had been wrongly identifying itself as “Special Olympics Chicago” since 2021. It’s the same organization that benefits from the popular annual Polar Plunge event.
The group traces its roots to the first Special Olympics Games held at Soldier Field in 1968. It recounts on its website how the event occurred through the work of future Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke, then-Mayor Richard J. Daley, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
But the lawsuit filed by Special Olympics Inc. insisted “there is no entity called ‘Special Olympics Chicago.’” It detailed a long-running back-and-forth over the use of the “Special Olympics” name by the Chicago organization, dating back to 1983. Past agreements over the use of the name ended in December 2020, according to the lawsuit.
Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings signed and entered a consent decree that said Special Children’s Charities “shall not use any trademark or service mark owned by or identifying Special Olympics Inc. … without the prior written consent of Special Olympics Inc.”
It also said the parties had reached a confidential settlement agreement.
Messages from the Sun-Times seeking comment from multiple officials in both organizations since the resolution of the case have gone unanswered. Among those contacted was Special Olympics CEO Mary Davis, who in 2022 accused Special Children’s Charities of acting “unlawfully.”
A Special Olympics spokeswoman said by email only that “the parties have resolved the dispute in a manner mutually acceptable to each.” She failed to respond to an email seeking answers about the ongoing use of the “Special Olympics” brand by Special Children’s Charities.
However, Special Children’s Charities continued as of Wednesday to use the “Special Olympics Chicago” name and logo on its website. Its online store also continued to offer “Special Olympics Chicago” merchandise for sale.
