Lawyer Yan Yiming: There Is No Trademark Infringement In Jordan Sports.

Guidance: against Jordan, the "flying man" Jordan sports in China Yan Yiming, a famous lawyer, pointed out that according to the current law, Jordan sports used the "Jordan" trademark in China legally. It can only be considered that it is binding on the Chinese name of an international celebrity to do publicity. Then, using the "registration first" principle of the trademark law to preemptive registration and get the exclusive right of trademark, how many people will have association with basketball superstar Jordan and Jordan sports, which is against business ethics.

But anyway, for a nation that wants to be truly big. brand The listed companies should focus on the development of their own corporate culture instead of relying on the "wire line" of the law, and the use of ambiguous trademarks to attract consumers.

　 The following is the full text of the article:

Two points of view of Jordan v. Jordan's sports, Yan Yiming

I. trademark rights

1. Jordan trademark trademark right holder Jordan sports Limited by Share Ltd

Jordan sports does not exist trademark infringement can only be considered that this is not a commercial moral behavior, because according to the existing materials, Jordan sports trademark is registered in China.

According to the contents of Jordan sports prospectus, Jordan sports has obtained 131 registered trademarks in China, all of which have obtained the trademark registration certificate of these registered trademarks and enjoy the exclusive rights of such registered trademarks. Generally speaking, the principle of prior registration of trademarks is an internationally accepted practice. According to the ninth provision of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China

"The trademark that applies for registration should have significant characteristics, which is easy to identify, and must not conflict with the legitimate rights of others."

Therefore, Jordan sports does have the exclusive right to "Jordan" trademark legally registered trademark.

2. the right of a well-known trademark owner who has not registered in China has the right to object.

But Michael Jordan as a basketball star, and has a basketball plate brand "Air Jordan", although the brand is not registered in China, but as an internationally famous brand, it still has the right to disagree with Jordan's sports in China, which has obtained 131 registered trademarks. Because according to the People's Republic of China trademark law, it is prohibited to use the well-known trademarks to copy, imitate or translate other well-known trademarks, but there are also certain standards. According to the fourteenth provision of the law,

　　 The following factors should be considered in identifying well-known trademarks:

(1) the public's awareness of the trademark;

(two) the duration of the use of the trademark;

(three) the duration, extent and geographical scope of any publicity work of the trademark;

(four) the trademark is a record of the protection of a well-known trademark;

(five) other factors that are well-known for the trade mark.

At the same time, this identification needs to be recognized by the specialized agencies of the state, according to the fifth provision of the regulations on the implementation of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China.

"In accordance with the provisions of the trademark law and this regulation, when disputes arise in the process of trademark registration and trademark review, the parties concerned believe that their trademark constitutes a well-known trademark. They may correspondingly request the trademark office or the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to identify a well-known trademark, reject the application for trademark registration as stipulated in the thirteenth article of the trademark law or revoke the trademark registration in violation of the thirteenth provision of the trademark law. When applying for an application, the parties concerned shall submit evidential materials whose trademarks constitute well-known trademarks.

According to the request of the parties, the Trademark Office and the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board shall, on the basis of finding out the facts, determine whether their trademarks constitute well-known trademarks in accordance with the provisions of the fourteenth article of the trademark law. {page_break}

3. the registered trademark of Jordan sports has not been identified as a violation of the well-known trademark of others.

So in 2002, Nike and Air Jordan, one of the brand names of basketball players co founded by Michael Jordan, challenged 8 defensive trademarks in the announcement stage after the initial verification of Jordan's trademark. However, their objections were rejected by the trademark office. Nike's subsequent requests for retrial were dismissed by the business jury.

The reason why the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board dismissed Nike is: "it is not enough to prove that the trademark" MICHAEL JORDAN "has become a well-known trademark which is widely known and enjoys a high reputation in China for clothing and other commodities before being applied for registration of objection trademarks. It is recognized that Jordan has a certain reputation in the field of basketball. But "Jordan" is a common surname in Britain and America. In addition to basketball, Jordan has no unique correspondence with Michael Jordan. The popularity of athletes can not be equal to the popularity of "MICHAEL JORDAN" brand in clothing, shoes and hat products.

It can be seen that according to Chinese law, the exclusive right of registered trademark of Jordan sports is not recognized as a violation of the well-known trademark of others.

Therefore, Jordan sports also stated in the prospectus that the "Jordan" trademark was completed and registered before and after 2003, and the time for obtaining the trademark certificate has exceeded five years. During the period, no interested party asked the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to adjudication to cancel the "Jordan" trademark registered by Jordan Sports, so it had exclusive rights to the trademark.

Therefore, according to the current law, the trademark of Jordan sports is legal in the use of "Jordan" trademark in China. It can only be considered that it is binding on an international celebrity's Chinese translation name to advertise, and then takes advantage of the principle of trademark registration before registration to get the exclusive right of trademark. How many people will have association with basketball superstar Jordan and Jordan sports, which is against business ethics.

　 Two. About the right to name

The general provisions of the civil law stipulates that ninety-ninth citizens enjoy the right to name, have the right to decide, use and change their names according to the regulations, prohibit others from interfering, embezzlement and counterfeiting.

An enterprise juridical person publicize the business without the permission of others, especially the name of a stylistic star. Even this registered trademark does cause misunderstanding to the public. In fact, it has resulted in infringement of other people's names for commercial activities.

But the "Jordan" of Jordan sports belongs to the Chinese transliteration of English or the direct Chinese symbolic meaning of Jordan. This case is quite different from the previous case of Yao Ming's "Yao Ming generation". Yao Ming is a Chinese citizen, and the Chinese name is obviously one-to-one with Yao Ming of the Yao Ming generation. The similarity between the trademark "QIAODAN" registered by Jordan sports and the English "Jordan" is not obvious.

And in the eyes of basketball fans, NIKE company's "Air Jordan" series. Gym shoes It is an indispensable substitute. Generally, basketball lovers can distinguish the difference between NIKE sports shoes and domestic Jordan sports shoes. Therefore, whether or not it is enough to mislead the public requires that the plaintiff put forward the convincing and convincing evidence material in the trial to determine whether the "Jordan" trademark has the act of "embezzlement and counterfeiting" the infringement of the other person's name.

But in any case, for a listed company that wants to really expand its national brand, it should focus on the development of its own corporate culture instead of relying on the "wire line" of law, and the use of "ambiguous" trademark to attract consumers. It can be said that today, regardless of the success or failure of this lawsuit, it is actually the use of the "Jordan" trademark of Jordan sports company, and the market will definitely deduct its business image. If the enterprise wants to use this kind of laughable trademark to carry on the commercial propaganda, enhances the enterprise brand influence, in addition to it is shameless, more is a kind of self humiliation ignorance!