The move follows allegations of copyright and intellectual property violations. A Belgian graphic designer filed a lawsuit in his country, alleging the Olympic emblem by Kenjiro Sano is very similar to a theater logo he created two years ago.
The Tokyo organizing committee is also investigating additional allegations against Sano. They say the material submitted last November for the emblem selection may have contained images used without permission.
One of the images shows an entrance hall at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, and the other depicts a busy intersection near the city's Shibuya train station.
The committee reported that Sano has admitted to the unauthorized use of those images. Olympic organizers made their decision based on what they heard from him and are now planning an emergency meeting to find a new design for the Olympic emblem.
Sano's designs, submitted in late July, were selected from more than 100 candidates. He has since faced accusations of plagiarizing the work of other artists. When the Belgian designer filed his complaint and filed a lawsuit in a Belgian court, Sano denied the allegations.
"I am very surprised that I am being accused by the Belgian designer of stealing his idea. It is absolutely unfounded," he said. Tokyo Olympics organizers initially defended Sano's designs and explained how they differed from the Belgian insignia. But other accusations surfaced.
It was suggested that designs produced by Sano's studio for a brewer were too similar to other works, and the brewery pulled some items from its sales campaign at Sano's request. Another was a logo for a new public facility in Ota City, near Tokyo, that residents said resembled a work by U.S. designer Josh Divino.
