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Chinese Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Michael Jordan In Trademark Case

China’s top court has ruled that Michael Jordan has rights "over the Chinese translation of his surname, cancelling several trademarks that a local sports company registered to market products from swimsuits to soy milk," according to Tom Hancock of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The former NBA Chicago Bulls player sued Qiaodan Sports in '12, saying the company -- whose logo is a silhouette of a leaping basketball player -- "built its business around his Chinese surname Qiaodan (pronounced chow-dan) without permission." It is a "rare victory for a foreign brand in China, where companies from Apple to Heineken have lost trademark battles." But observers said that the verdict "did not guarantee the immediate disappearance of the name from the company’s basketball jerseys." The Chinese Supreme Court on Thursday overturned previous verdicts supporting three of the Chinese company’s trademarks, adding that "Jordan’s right to use his name had been violated by Qiaodan, which had deliberately misled the public." Citing Jordan's fame in China, Judge Tao Kaiyuan said, "Qiaodan's registration of the disputed trademarks clearly showed malicious intent." Jordan is the "highest-paid athlete of all time" with earnings of $1.7B since '84, according to Forbes. He is "hugely popular in China, where basketball -- in particular the NBA -- is a national obsession." The case is the "latest example of a high-profile western brand running into Chinese trademark trouble." Jordan said, "I am happy that the Supreme People's Court has recognized the right to protect my name through its ruling in the trademark cases." But the ruling represents "only a partial victory" for Jordan, who has disputed as many as 70 of Qiaodan’s trademarks. Many of those are "nearly impossible to revoke under Chinese law," which protects trademarks registered more than five years ago. The court also ruled that the company "could keep trademarks using Qiaodan in Pinyin, a Romanised version of Chinese" (FT, 12/8). In N.Y., Sui-Lee Wee reported lawyers said that the verdict is "important because it establishes the scope of protection for personal names in trademark cases," indicating that foreign celebrities can "successfully challenge third parties that use the Chinese characters of their names in China." Li Shunde, a research specialist in intellectual-property law at the government think-tank Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, "Although this is an individual case, the impact of this will be quite extensive." The ruling "could hurt China’s so-called trademark squatters, people who foreign companies say have profited from registering the names of well-known brands." In China, trademarks are "generally awarded to those who are first to file with the government." A separate naming rights case involving Jordan’s name is "still pending in Shanghai," according to the statement from Jordan’s public relations firm (N.Y. TIMES, 12/7).

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