Jordan Sports Brand Meaning Forced Slam Dunk Icon Questioned

At the beginning of last year, on the eve of the "Jordan sports" listing, American basketball superstar Michael Jordan filed a petition to push forward the public opinion whirlpool of Jordan sports, causing its listing to be blocked. In April 27th this year, Michael Jordan filed a lawsuit on the name right dispute of "Jordan sports" in the second middle court of Shanghai. A year later, "Jordan sports" gave this explanation, "our brand" Jordan "means" Southern vegetation ". In this regard, netizens did not buy it, asking "Jordan sports" to explain the meaning of its registration icon "slam dunk".

　　 Question

Why does "Southern wood" appear with the "dunk" icon?

According to Jordan sports prospectus, the company not only registered the "Jordan" trademark, but also registered Michael's Jordan's jersey number "23" and "Jeffrey Jordan", "Markus Jordan" and its English and variant trademarks. The latter was in line with the two sons' names in Chinese and English.

At the beginning of the trial, Michael Jordan's lawyer began to make a clear statement. "Litigation not only protects the plaintiff's right to name, but also protects the Chinese consumers from being misled", Jordan sports has not authorized the use of Jordan's Chinese name, ball number 23, and even tried to engage in business activities with the name of his child. This kind of climbing behavior is a violation of Jordan's right to name. Jordan sports denied that he had infringed, saying, "our brand" Jordan "means" the grass in the South ".

After the trial, some netizens asked, "even if the literal meaning can barely be explained, how can the meaning of the icons be explained?" the reporter noted that no matter the "Jordan sports" shop decoration style or its official website, no publicity slogans or picture identities associated with the "Southern vegetation" could be found. On the contrary, the logo similar to "Jordan classic lay up action silhouette" appears in any place related to "Jordan sports". It is really impossible for people to link such a sports brand with the "Southern vegetation". In this regard, Wu Dong, lawyer of Shanghai Hui Ye law firm, said Michael Jordan had world-class fame in basketball field, and Jordan sports had a suspicion of "free riding" at the beginning.

Li Shunde, deputy director of the intellectual property center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "the trademark of Jordan sports also includes a pattern of basketball players. In addition, the Chinese translation of Jordan's two sons has been registered, which in itself makes people suspicious. In my opinion, although the registration process of Jordan's sports trademark is legal, it has caused confusion results in the course of use, violating the principle of good faith, and constitutes unfair competition.

The real name "micro-blog", a netizen named "Professor of Law School of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics", wrote in micro-blog. "Civil law has a cloud of honesty and credit, that is, it is necessary to take advantage of good motives." From the point of view, although it is difficult to define this "Jordan" in the tort law, it is reasonable to believe that it is unfair competition in the competition law. This is probably one of the reasons for the economic law beyond the civil law. "

In the process of case entanglement, Jordan sports announced in June 2012 the cancellation of some "potentially misunderstood defensive trademarks", including the trademark "Jeffrey Jordan", "Marcus Jordan", "JIEFULI QIAODAN", "MAKUSI QIAODAN" and its variants, which are consistent with the names of Jordan's two sons in Chinese and English. Some analysts believe that the initiative to apply for cancellation of the relevant trademarks and publicity, is Jordan's initiative in sports. But some analysts believe that this may be a manifestation of the "Jordan sports" guilty.

According to relevant information, there are more than 100 legally registered trademarks containing "Jordan", "QIAODAN" or similar trademarks in China. The trade covered by registered trademarks is varied, involving industries such as food, clothing There are also many sports goods industry, such as medical treatment, feed and sanitary ware.

Zhao Zhanling, a researcher at the intellectual property center of China University of Political Science and Law, said: "when Chinese enterprises build their own brands in the early stage, they can only use the names of others or the names of well-known products to register trademarks, which can only be short-term behavior. In the long run, no independent brand will bring risks and even huge losses to enterprises. "

　　 dispute

Does Jordan constitute a corresponding relationship with Michael Jordan?

Defendant: many of them are called Jordan, both at home and abroad. There is no unique correspondence between Chinese "Jordan" and Michael Jordan (Michael Jordan). Just in the registration of Chinese public security organs, there are more than 4600 Chinese citizens called "Jordan", and "Jordan" does not belong exclusively to Michael Jordan.

Plaintiff: who do you know about Lincoln, Putin and Churchill? There is no doubt that they are European and American politicians. We also noticed a case in a court. A company used the "Clinton" brand. The court found that the company infringed the name right of former US President Clinton. Since 1984, Jordan has been reported by domestic media, and Jordan is well known in China. According to a survey report, 85% of the respondents' first reaction to "Jordan" is the famous basketball players of the United States. China's Yao Ming and Lining [-7.01%] are also many, but it can not be considered that the names of sports stars Yao Ming and Lining should not be protected.

　　 News background

In November 25, 2011, Jordan sports approved the first application of the SFC audit committee, which will be listed before the end of March 2012, and is expected to become the first sporting goods company to enter the A share market.

In February 23, 2012, Michael Jordan announced that he had filed a lawsuit to accuse Jordan of abusing his name and image without authorization. The second middle school of Shanghai accepted the case in March 5, 2012.

At the end of March 2013, "Jordan sports" formally sued Michael Jordan, demanded that he stop the infringement on the right of reputation of Jordan sports and compensate for the economic loss of $8 million. The intermediate people's Court of Quanzhou accepted the case.

Due to the alleged infringement of the right to name, Jordan sports's IPO listing road was forced to stop after being approved by the SFC.