The USTA, announced that they would be filing a lawsuit against American camera company, Olympus Corporation. The USTA claims that Olympus Corporation violated contract by trying to back out of the sponsorship agreement signed
by the two parties for 2011.
The USTA and Olympus have been contractual partners for over seven years, with the partnership beginning in 2003. The two organizations signed an agreement in 2007 which extended this partnership to carry on till 2013. This venture
included making the Olympus Corporation the main sponsor for the US Open series.
The contract also included a clause which gave the camera company the option of withdrawing from the last two years of the agreement. Although the USTA willingly allowed them to shorten their contract for these two years, they
found it unacceptable when Olympus tried to drop out of the 2011 commitments. The complaint, filed last week is New York, claims that the Olympus Corporation is attempting to prematurely end their indenture with the USTA.
The complaint goes on to say that the Olympus Corporation is attempting to avoid the payment of $11.65 million which it will owe the USTA within the next year. In order to achieve this, the camera company claims that the USTA permitting
Panasonic to film at the 2010 US Open would be considered an infringement of Olympus’s exclusive sponsorship. The USTA, meanwhile, dismisses this argument as “without merit.” The complaint maintains that Olympus is attempting to reduce costs by not fulfilling
the contract.
According to the complaint, the Olympus Corporation had agreed to pay certain costs in 2011. These costs included seven million dollars for the sponsorship of the US Open and the Arthur Ashe Kids Day, held on the weekend before
the actual tournament. Olympus also allegedly signed up for the sponsorship of the US Open Series and its tournaments for 3.35 million dollars. Lastly, their final sponsorship was of 1.3 million dollars, to fund the purchase of advertising time from the main
media partners in connection with the USTA. The complaint filed demands the refunding of these costs, or the fulfillment of these clauses. However, it goes one step further and asks the court which manages the case to declare the USTA’s lack of involvement
where contract breach is considered.
The Vice President of Corporate Communications at Olympus, Elizabeth Sullivan, wrote an email to the press saying, “It is unfortunate that the USTA has chosen to file a lawsuit against Olympus. Olympus will file a detailed response
to the complaint in due course. However, Olympus is not able to comment further at this time due to the pending litigation.”
USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier also wrote an email, saying, “With great disappointment, the USTA has opted to file a legal action against Olympus Corporation of America to enforce the terms of the Sponsorship Agreement between the
parties.” He went on to deny the allegations of a breach of contract and called the legal action “regrettable.” He ended the email saying, “Having worked collaboratively with Olympus for a number of years, the USTA desires to resolve this matter amicably and
to continue its relationship with Olympus in 2011."
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