Does Jordan Sports Have Anything To Do With The American "Flying Man" Jordan?

Recently, the US NBA superstar and the "flying man" Jordan sued Chinese Trademark "Jordan sports" trademark infringement case. The Beijing Higher People's court made judgments on 32 of the 78 Jordan sports trademark disputes. The court upheld the first instance judgment and dismissed Michael Jordan's appeal for cancellation of Jordan's sports dispute trademark registration.

A spokesman for Michael Jordan's legal adviser said, "we regret the court's decision on trademark disputes. The purpose of Michael Jordan's action is not only to protect his right to name, but also to protect consumers from being misled.

"We will apply for a retrial to the Supreme People's court for the judgment of trademark disputes. Michael Jordan's case against Jordan sports in the Shanghai court has been an independent case, and the infringement of the name right is still under trial.

Michael Jordan said, "respect the laws of China, and believe that Chinese laws will protect their legitimate rights and ensure that consumers are not misled."

Jordan sports Limited by Share Ltd is located in Jinjiang, Fujian, China. It is a well-known sporting goods company in China. Since 2000, the company has registered many trademarks such as "QIAODAN", "Qiao Dan", "Qiao Dan" and "Jordan king" in many commodities such as clothing, shoes, schoolbags and so on.

Michael Jordan believed that the trademark "QIAODAN" and "Qiao Dan" registered by Jordan were infringed on their right to name and portrait, which had adverse effects.

According to public media reports, Jordan's attorneys also said that the Chinese public saw the same or similar logo with "Jordan" or "QIAODAN", which would be associated with Michael Jordan himself. Jordan sports, when he knew or should know Michael Jordan's popularity, applied for registration of relevant labels as trademarks, which violated the principle of good faith. The registration and use of related trademarks would cause confusion and misidentification of the source of products by the public, disrupt the normal social order, and create undesirable social effects.

Jordan sports agent lawyer Ma Dongxiao said: Michael Jordan's surname is "Jordan", itself is the common name of Britain and America, and Chinese "Jordan" is one of the usual translation. It is hard to find that there is an inevitable and unique correspondence between Jordan and Michael. Accordingly, Michael Jordan does not enjoy any prior rights to Chinese "Jordan" and his silhouette image as an ordinary basketball dribble. Since its establishment, Jordan sports has gained extensive market recognition and stable market order after more than 20 years of operation. Compared with the use of its trademark by Jordan sports, it can not be determined that the correspondence between "Jordan" two and Michael Jordan is stronger than that of Jordan sports. Although Michael Jordan has high social popularity as a basketball player, it does not mean that his name has relevant rights in commodities, while the "Jordan" brand is a legitimate registered trademark, so it has exclusive rights in commercial use.

However, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce ruled that a series of trademark registrations should be maintained in Jordan sports.

Michael Jordan refused to accept the ruling and filed a lawsuit against the first intermediate court of Beijing.

In early 2015, the Beijing intermediate court dismissed Michael Jordan's claim.

Michael Jordan appealed to the Beijing high court for the cancellation of the original trial and the defendant's ruling.

For the judgment of the Beijing Higher People's court, a spokesman for Michael Jordan's legal adviser said he would apply for a retrial to the Supreme People's court.

This is not the first time that international famous trademarks have failed in China. On the 24 day of last month, the Guangzhou intermediate people's court decided on the first instance of the intermediate people's Court of the people's Republic of China. The New Balance company in China, which is a related company in China, new hundred Lun Trading (China) Co., Ltd., which used the registered trademark "new hundred Lun" of others, constitutes a violation of the exclusive right of another person's trademark, and it needs to compensate the other party for 98 million yuan.