The Time Limit For Jordan To Lose To Law

It is reported that Michael Jordan, a basketball legend, has brought a lawsuit against Chinese sports dress and footwear manufacturer Jordan sports Limited by Share Ltd for alleged infringement of his right to name.

According to The Associated Press reports, Michael Jordan (M ichael Jordan) sued China Jordan Sports Co., Ltd., because it did not receive Jordan's permission, took advantage of Jordan's Chinese name to participate in business activities, and also registered Jordan's two sons' Chinese names, Pinyin and their variant trademarks.

In response to Michael Jordan's comments and media comments, Jordan sports Limited by Share Ltd responded by saying that the company has always advocated the spirit of sports since its inception, and has continued to support the development of sports in China at the same time operating in good faith.

Chinese "Jordan" is a registered trademark of its company applying for registration and exclusive right in accordance with Chinese laws. The lawful use of registered trademarks is protected by Chinese law.

They will take an active interest in the development of the situation. If there is any further information, they will further explain to the society through the official website of the company.

As of noon on February 23rd, the company had not yet received any notification from any court in the country.

Jordan sports is a clothing enterprise in Fujian. The logo is one.

In this case, we have made comments on the Internet that Jordan's abuse of Michael Jordan's personal name has caused misleading and fraudulent practices to consumers.

Many people thought that Jordan sports had a cooperative relationship with Michael Jordan, but he didn't want to be a Shanzhai enterprise.

But more people expressed their support and sympathy for Michael Jordan, but they were not optimistic about the outcome of the lawsuit.

The problem now is that if we want to prove that this "Jordan" is "Jordan", we need strong evidence.

We know that trademark right has a strong regional character.

The regionality of trademark right refers to the trademark right granted by a country or region in accordance with its trademark law or trademark treaty in the region, which is effective only in the country or region, and has no binding force on other countries or countries outside the region.

In other words, each country has no obligation to protect the trademark rights granted by other countries.

What is most disadvantageous to Michael Jordan is that he has not registered any trademark named "Jordan" in China.

On the contrary, Jordan sports has registered many trademarks of "Jordan", "Qiaodan" and "Jordan" in China, and has been approved by the trademark office.

Therefore, if Michael Jordan wants to fight trademark infringement lawsuit with Jordan, the winning rate is almost zero.

This is also the reason why Michael Jordan proposed the right of name.

According to media reports, the court has not accepted the case at present, because it is necessary to conduct a short time review of the complaint submitted by the Michael Jordan legal advisory group, and decide whether to hear the case.

What about the conflict between the right of name and trademark?

There is no doubt that Michael Jordan has the right to name his name. As a famous person, his name right is protected by law no matter what his name is plated into what language and text.

It is also unquestionable that Jordan sports has registered the two words of "Jordan" as a trademark, enjoying trademark rights, and is also protected by law.

According to the Supreme Court's jurisdiction

So what is the key?

The first key is whether "Jordan" connects the relevant public to "Michael Jordan". If it fails to form a connection, it will not be able to explain the infringement of the right to name.

You may remember the incident of "Andy Lau roast duck". The people in the world called Andy Lau are not only one of Andy Lau, one of the four heavenly kings of Hongkong, but as long as the operator is not using the "goods free" behavior when he uses the commodity brand, he does not mislead the relevant public, and he can not be regarded as infringing upon the right of others to name.

As far as Jordan is concerned, people who like sports may relate to Michael Jordan, but people in the fashion world may think that Jordan is the famous model.

But in this case, because of the same field, Jordan's "Jordan" used in the two sports is difficult to prevent people from contacting Michael Jordan.

The second key is whether Jordan is abused.

Speaking of "Jordan" two times before, it is easy for people who play sports to be linked to Michael Jordan, so as to enhance the visibility and reputation of Jordan sports. However, if this connection is not deliberately enlarged and utilized by Jordan sports, there is still uncertainty about whether or not it is infringed.

The key to victory or defeat is that Michael Jordan did not protect his rights in time.

We noticed that Jordan sports company began to use the trademark "Jordan" in 2000.

According to Jordan sports company's own statement, since 2000, Jordan, who was born in Jinjiang, Fujian, has worked hard and grows steadily.

During this period, Jordan sports used the "Jordan" brand at the same time, did a lot of advertising, making it a household name in China.

That is to say, Michael Jordan has not objected to Jordan's "Jordan" trademark for 11 years. In the past 11 years Jordan sports has gradually promoted Jordan's brand and made it very famous.

This leads to a situation that the two word "Jordan" has already established a "Jordan sports" cognition for the relevant public outside the "Michael Jordan". When this cognition reaches a certain level, even if the "Jordan" trademark violates the name right of Mai Kerr Jordan at first, then this infringement is weakened or even eliminated because the "Jordan" trademark has established another public cognition independent of Michael Jordan.

In 2005, Jordan's graphic trademark was identified as a well-known trademark. In 2009, Jordan's trademark was also recognized as a well-known trademark. At least, after that, the infringement characteristics of trademark usage were not obvious.

If the "Jordan" trademark has not become a well-known brand before, the use of the trademark by Jordan sports violates the name right of Michael Jordan, then Jordan sports need to bear the legal liability caused by this infringement?

The biggest obstacle here is litigation.

In the space of the court, Michael Jordan can fly very high; but in the time of law, the flying man has lost to time.