When Can China's Sports Brand Cottage Wind Stop?

Occasionally, some of the Chinese sports brand clothes are familiar, like Nike or ADI. And the Shanzhai style in China is becoming more and more serious. When will it stop?

From 2001, the World Intellectual Property Day is set in April 26th each year. I believe you are not familiar with the word "intellectual property". Specifically, intellectual property rights include industrial property And copyright two parts. Copyright is well understood, while industrial property is relatively complex, including patents, trademarks, manufacturers' names, service marks, designs and so on.

In this year's world copyright day, a protracted "trademark dispute" in sports circles has been put on the table again. This case is the dispute between Michael Jordan, a well-known basketball superstar, and Jordan, a domestic sports Brand Company.

Jordan sports company was founded in 2000. It is also one of the famous brands in Jinjiang. Although from the name, it will make people unconsciously link Jordan sports to Michael Jordan. In fact, there is no direct connection between the two. In its 16 years of development, it has actively combined with sports events, through sponsoring the World University Games, the National Games and a number of Marathon events, so as to gradually gain a foothold in the domestic sporting goods market.

At the end of 2011, Jordan sports passed the IPO meeting and plans to go public in A shares before the end of March 2012. At this juncture, a generation of basketball superstar Michael Jordan filed a petition for Jordan's sports to the court. This has also opened up four years of struggle for rights and interests between the two sides.

In April 2014, the business jury decided that "the controversial trademark should be maintained". The reason why Michael Jordan applied for the cancellation of Jordan's sports trademark registration was not valid. Jordan could not accept such a decision and decided to appeal immediately. However, in 2015, the first intermediate people's Court of Beijing and the higher people's court ruled that Michael Jordan had lost the lawsuit. The subsequent story is what we see now, and the controversy between the two sides has been heard again in the Supreme People's court. But this time, there is still no clear answer.

In fact, the controversial points of the two sides are mainly concentrated in two aspects. The first aspect is the object and legal basis of Michael Jordan's claim of name right; on the other hand, whether the registration of controversial trademarks has damaged Michael Jordan's right to name.

We cannot discuss legal issues here. In fact, from Michael Jordan's four years of struggle history, it is precisely because there are many blind spots in the law that this case can not be settled.

I personally agree with Professor Liu Ning of Fuzhou University law school. In his view, on the one hand, Jordan sports may have the intention of striking the ball at the time of initial application for trademark registration, hoping to open up the market by borrowing celebrities at the beginning of the enterprise. On the other hand, Michael Jordan did not apply for cancellation within 5 years after the disputed trademark registration. Objectively, Jordan sports has accumulated considerable market share and competitive advantage in the market after more than 10 years of operation accumulation. The trademark review board and the court of second instance may take into consideration that the relevant public can distinguish different commodity providers and maintain the existing market interest pattern, and make decisions from the perspective of balance of interests.

To a certain extent, this case The controversy continues to explain its typicality. The verdict of the case will become a benchmark for the industry, which will become a reference case after a case of protection of the right to protect the name of foreigners. It will have a far-reaching impact on the future judicial practice, especially in the sporting goods industry.

On the same day in April 26th, in Jinjiang, Fujian, a newly born sports brand also attracted a lot of public attention. The name of this brand is Uncle Martian, and the Chinese name is Anke Martin. At first glance, do you associate it with Under Armour, a famous sports brand in the United States? If you see the Logo of this brand, it will definitely deepen your sense of crossing, which seems to be a twin brand of Under Armour.

In fact, Uncle Martian is the brand of Fujian Ting Fei Long sporting goods limited, and has no direct relationship with Under Armour. Such a way of development is naturally linked to Jordan sports. Facing the challenge from outside to the brand "Shanzhai", Huang Canlong, general manager of Ting Fei Long sporting goods Co., Ltd., said that we do our own brand and products. As for the similar problems of style and logo, we should do reasonable products within reasonable limits, like consumers who do not have the final say. As for some people who question our edge ball, this is the outsiders' view. Uncle Martian has been doing it for several years without crossing the border.

With the warning of Jordan sports, Under Armour quickly responded to the emergence of this new brand. The US brand has issued an official statement that Uncle Martian's use of Under Armour's well-known trademarks, names and other intellectual property rights acts as a blatant infringement, causing serious concern to us. Under Armour will actively take various commercial and legal measures to safeguard its rights and interests. In addition, this incident has aroused strong concern in the US media. It can be said that the Chinese style brand of the sports brand has once again been scrutiny by the world's public opinion.

Not long ago, the organization for economic cooperation and development and the European Union's Intellectual Property Office released a report on the impact of the counterfeit market on the global economy. The report pointed out that in 2013, the global counterfeit market was as high as 461 billion dollars, occupying 2.5% of the total import and export volume of the world trade, and 63.2% of the counterfeit cases seized by the global customs in 2013 were made in China. The office of the United States trade representative also issued a report that China's sales situation was still rampant and put China on the "key watch list". Although Shanzhai and fake goods can not be directly equated, they all cause great harm to intellectual property rights. If this kind of ethos can not be effectively curbed, it will greatly affect the reputation of Chinese brands in the global market. At the same time, it will also frustrate international famous brands' confidence in developing the Chinese market. In the long run, it will definitely do more harm than good.

China's sports industry is at a stage of rapid development. policy The support or the potential attraction of the market makes it seem tempting enough. As a sports industry, which occupies a pivotal position, it will not let go of such a development opportunity. The cake is big and the competition is fierce. But with an attitude of quick success and instant benefit, it may get good results in the short term, and in the long run, it will inevitably be eliminated by the market.

Perhaps before Jordan made a clear decision on trademark disputes, the similar Shanzhai style is still hard to contain, but it is still hoped that enterprises can shoulder more social responsibilities while pursuing profits. Only when we look at the sports market from the perspective of globalization can we maximize our own value. The brand can develop the market by playing the edge ball, but creating its core competitiveness and actively innovating is the way of scientific development. From this perspective, the wind of Shanzhai can really stop.