Tokyo is being plagued with controversies about the 2020 Olympics. It started with the costing of the stadium, and now Belgian designer Oliver Debie is threatening to take legal actions if the Tokyo design is not changed or taken out, USA Today reported.
Debie is claiming that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games logos look similar to a design he created two years ago for a theater in Liege, Belgium.
A comparison of emblems surfaced on Twitter, where @nippon_en showed a snap of the referred logos.
Japanese Twitter pointing out the similarity of the Tokyo 2020 logo to existing designs. Sincerest flattery? pic.twitter.com/hpRhHYLVSX
— Nippon.com (@nippon_en) July 30, 2015
"I had absolutely no previous knowledge of the design in question, and I certainly did not refer to it when creating my design," Kenjiro Sano, a famous graphic designer in Tokyo, said, denying the allegations.
He explained that the "T" with a red circle on the white background is the same with Japan's national flag. He added that the design is a homage to the logo for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Additionally, the official press release of the 2020 logo explained that the black color at the center represented diversity — the combination of all colors. The circle represented an inclusive world where everyone accepts each other and the red circle represented the power of every beating heart, as per the report of the Sporting News.
The design was revealed by the organizers on July 24, which is exactly five years from the 2020 Games opening. It was described as "symbolizing the power of the world coming together as one."
Organizers said in a statement Friday that proper comprehensive and transparent processes were taken before the design was chosen. Extensive research was done on trademark protections internationally by the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 committee.
They were confident in releasing the emblem because they did not find any issues throughout the process.
Tokyo 2020 Marketing Director Hidetoshi Maki said that the logo wasn't a registered trademark, so there should be no problem.
Debie admitted that his logo was not registered as a trademark, but it had gained international recognition the entire period it was used.
Tokyo 2020 officials acknowledged receiving the letter but did not disclose its content, according to Euro Sport. The report stated that they were working with the Japanese Olympic Committee and International Olympic Committee to come up with a response regarding this matter.
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