Start The Brand And Reshape Jordan Sports: Can You Tear Off The "Shanzhai" Label?

For seven years, the trademark dispute between sports brand Jordan sports and American star Jordan finally came to the final decision.

In October 16th, the Supreme People's Court concluded Jordan's sports trademark dispute and decided that its trademark did not damage Michael Jordan's right of portrait. The trademark does not embody Jordan's personal characteristics and is not identifiable. Therefore, the judgment does not constitute a damage to the right of portrait.

The debate on the "Jordan" trademark, which began in 2012, ended in the victory of Jordan sports. This means that Jordan sports is no longer under the pressure of "Shanzhai" because of the controversy over the name of "flying man" Jordan, and the process of landing on A shares will also accelerate.

However, winning the trademark dispute is just the beginning. If you want to prove that your brand value is not related to Jordan, Jordan sports still needs to build up its own brand idea and value, so as to avoid repeating the mistake of "edge ball" marketing.

Trademark dispute wins

According to the verdict of the supreme law on Jordan's trademark dispute, Jordan's sports trademark did not damage Jordan's portrait right. The supreme law verdict is that trademarks do not embody Jordan's personal characteristics and are not identifiable and do not constitute damage to portrait rights.

Statistics show that Jordan sports registered the "Dan bridge" trademark in 1991, and renamed the name of the enterprise as Jordan sports in 2000. In 2012, Nike company (its Air Jordan brand) had filed many trademark dissenting and controversial administrative procedures for the "Jordan" trademark registered by Jordan. After it was rejected by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, Nike has instituted two administrative lawsuits against two trademarks. After losing the lawsuit, Nike company instructed Jordan himself as the plaintiff and filed 80 administrative proceedings against the 80 "Jordan" trademarks registered by Jordan sports company.

For Jordan sports on the verdict results and the current operating conditions and other issues, Beijing Business Daily reporter to interview Jordan sports in mail form, as of press time, did not receive a reply.

In fact, Jordan sports can develop into a famous brand in China, and to a certain extent, it is stained with the fame of American Jordan. Statistics show that in 2008-2011 years, Jordan's annual business income was 1 billion 158 million yuan, 2 billion 316 million yuan, 2 billion 927 million yuan and 1 billion 704 million yuan, and now it has become one of the six major sports brands in China.

Although Jordan sports has repeatedly stressed that this Jordan is not Jordan, there is no correlation and cooperation between the two sides, but in the eyes of consumers, Jordan will naturally associate with the American "flying man" Jordan, which is obviously Jordan sports playing the "edge ball".

A Jordan sports brand user told reporters that Nike also has a Jordan (transliteration "Jordan") brand, and Jordan sports brand has been unclear. Now, the two are not a company, and the two sides are not even connected.

According to the insiders, the ruling result of the supreme law made Jordan sports tear up the label of "Shanzhai", but this "edge ball" also made the consumers understand this Jordan not the other Jordan, which put forward more tests for Jordan's sports brand operation in the future.

Accelerating the listing process

It is noteworthy that the controversy over the trademark has also set the pace of Jordan sports listing going on the IPO key node. According to China Securities Regulatory Commission's official website information, in April 2019, Jordan sports landed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's main board listing application through the first instance, and then completed the "meeting" again after 2011. According to the prospectus disclosed previously, Jordan sports intends to land on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The number of shares issued is expected to be 112 million 500 thousand shares. It is estimated that the fund will be raised by 1 billion 211 million yuan, and the funds will be used for the construction of production base expansion and direct stores.

It is understood that in November 2011, the SFC adopted the listing application submitted by Jordan sports for the first time, but it was precisely because of the lawsuit of Jordan trademark that Jordan sports postponed the listing. The securities and Futures Commission has revealed that there is a major pending lawsuit in Jordan sports. According to the provisions of China's IPO listing management, issuers must meet the conditions of "no significant debt repayment risk, no guarantees, litigation and arbitration" affecting the continuing operation.

Wang Zhen, a lawyer at Beijing's law firm, said that the end of the proceedings had cleared Jordan's IPO. Jordan sports has been examined by the securities and Futures Commission. If there is no accident, the Commission will approve the approval by the end of this year, and the broker will launch the issuing process.

However, now the 5 sports enterprises in front of Jordan sports are already listed companies. Among them, the annual revenue of domestic brand Anta sports has exceeded 24 billion yuan, and Lining has achieved the goal of breaking tens of billions of revenue. XTEP and 331 degree annual revenue volume also exceeded 5 billion yuan. Jordan sports's IPO road was only able to enter countdown this year.

In this regard, Jordan sports organized a strategic launch conference last year, with the theme of "billions of dreams in the new journey". Jordan sports describes the vision of enterprises as "a widely recognized sporting goods group". At the market level, Jordan sports hopes to break through 10 billion yuan in 2022.

Cheng Weixiong, general manager of textile and clothing brand management and Shanghai Liang Qi Brand Management Co., Ltd. believes that if IPO is successful, Jordan sports will have more capital to upgrade its brand and products. The added value of sports industry is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan in 2020, and the domestic sports industry has entered a period of steady growth. Jordan sports should catch up with the draught of sports industry and achieve its own billion goals.

Brand rebuilding

Although Jordan sports has become the winner of this trademark dispute, from the perspective of market feedback, Jordan sports may not be the real winner. In the 7 years when Jordan was prosecuted by the "flying man", huge public opinion whirlpool, forced interruption of listing and damage of brand reputation were the sequelae of the lawsuit left to Jordan's sports.

In June 2019, Lin Youxun, senior director of the brand management center, said in an interview that if Jordan's dryness introduced last year is a major attempt to get close to the young people's market, the next "brand remodeling plan" will be a major move to a new generation of consumer groups.

Beijing Business Daily reporter noted that at present part of Jordan sports shop image has changed, the word "Jordan sports" has been reduced, there are also "QDSPORTS" or "BREYOUND YOURSELF" and other new words. In terms of product design, brand names "basketball players" are no longer conspicuous. Instead, the logo of some garments is changed to "TEAM", "SHOT" and "YOUTH". Only the "basketball player" trademark is reserved on the collar or sleeves.

Meanwhile, this year, Jordan sports also sponsors sports competitions frequently, and uses the competition platform to convey the brand image. In addition to sponsoring the marathon race, PEAK also used the basketball gene to sponsor the 3 * 3 gold league. Jordan sports is also the official sponsor of the World University Winter Games and the International University Sports Federation (FISU). It is also the equipment sponsor of the 25-30 China World Summer Games. And in the men's Basketball World Cup, which just ended last month, PEAK also took part in the sponsorship of the team.

In the view of the industry, Chinese brands and celebrities are very common in the early days of the development of China's local enterprises and brands. The brand edge ball can really give the brand rapid attention and growth; but with the advance of globalization, it is very difficult for celebrities to play such a role. After winning the lawsuit, Jordan sports can rely on its brand value and idea to win the recognition of consumers, so it needs a long way to go.

In a sense, although Jordan sports won the trademark dispute, it also completely lost the convenience of continuing to ride the "ride". Cheng Weixiong said that Jordan sports now has to build up its own brand and concept with the help of the capital market strength, so as to prove the value of its brand and make Jordan sports truly become the "famous brand" in the market.