A dispute that has apparently simmered for decades over the Special Olympics brand in Chicago boiled over in federal court Wednesday when the global organization sued a local group — despite a half-century of support — to force it to stop using that name.
The complaint filed by Special Olympics Inc. alleges Special Children’s Charities of Chicago, which recently celebrated its popular Polar Plunge benefit, has wrongly been “posing online” as “Special Olympics Chicago,” even though any permission it once had to use that name ended in December 2020.
