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Firms Asked to Respect Olympic Trademark: Billy Payne, president of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, in a letter mailed to 900 advertising and public relations firms, appealed to the companies’ patriotism to refrain from “ambush marketing” to make unauthorized use of Olympic emblems or themes. The practice has been a growing problem at recent Games. With 1996 marking the centennial of the modern Games and an opportunity to offer live prime-time television coverage in the United States, some fear the problem could be greater than ever. Federal law gives the U.S. Olympic Committee the right to control who uses Olympic symbols. The privilege usually goes only to corporations that pay large sums to become sponsors.