The World Economic Forum organizes many events around the world, but its annual summit in the alpine town of Davos, Switzerland, is probably the most famous. Commonly referred to as simply “Davos,” the conference has come to be synonymous with an exclusive gathering of the global elite. As such, many different events have claimed to be the “Davos” of this or that over the years to capitalize on the original summit’s prestige—but the WEF has had enough.
The World Economic Forum organizes many events around the world, but its annual summit in the alpine town of Davos, Switzerland, is probably the most famous. Commonly referred to as simply “Davos,” the conference has come to be synonymous with an exclusive gathering of the global elite. As such, many different events have claimed to be the “Davos” of this or that over the years to capitalize on the original summit’s prestige—but the WEF has had enough.
In a press release published today (Oct. 22), the WEF said that it objected to “the use of the ‘Davos’ brand for events that have nothing to do with its own activities,” because it may falsely imply that the organization “is responsible for, or part of, that event.” The statement is a timely one, considering that Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference—hosted by crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman and colloquially known as “”—is starting tomorrow (Oct. 23), and many others don’t want to be associated with it either.
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Amidst the escalating conflict surrounding Saudi Arabia’s involvement in journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death, numerous executives, investors, and media outlets have pulled out of the gathering. The FII website also got hacked today, and instead of conference information, it briefly displayed accusations of Saudi complicity in Khashoggi’s death, the Yemeni humanitarian crisis, and terrorism in general.
With international tensions rising over issue of Khashoggi’s death, the WEF’s objection to trademark appropriation is unlikely to be at the top of Saudi Arabia’s agenda.
And it didn’t seem to be an issue for the WEF until now, either, considering that plenty of organizations have long claimed to host the “Davos” of something, whether that’s the “Davos of the fashion industry” or “Davos with palm trees.”
But even though the official objection to the appropriation of the Davos brand was issued just one day before the FII, the WEF said that it was not specific to Saudi Arabia.
“The press release is to address the growing concern of how the ‘Davos’ name is used. This is not specific to any particular country or organization,” Fon Mathuros, head of media for the WEF, told Quartz via email.
The WEF asserts that it is politically impartial, although heads of government do attend the original Davos. Here is a list of some of the many events associated with the term “Davos,” but which the WEF does not organize.
