The Infringement Case Covers The Claims Of Jordan Sports Or Tens Of Millions Of RMB

　　 Jordan Sports (Weibo) Some fragments in the prospectus of Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jordan Sports") are like a crystal ball that can see the future.

American superstar Michael Jordan, known as the greatest basketball player in history, has filed a lawsuit in a Chinese court, accusing Jordan Sports of "deliberately and without scruple" using his name without permission and misleading Chinese consumers.

　 Jordan Sports Plan approved in November 2011 in Shanghai Stock Exchange list Now, because of this lawsuit, there are more uncertainties.

Kang Yi, the partner of Michael Jordan's agent Fang Junhe Law Firm, said that according to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law, the lawsuit is expected to be filed in a week. "We have proposed a reasonable compensation, about tens of millions of yuan."

　　 According to the prospectus of Jordan Sports, by the end of 2010, the company's operating income had exceeded 2.9 billion yuan.

In Jordan Sports' prospectus, "trademark and trade name risk" is listed as the first item in "risk factor prompt".

According to the definition of the Anti Unfair Competition Law, "unauthorized use of other people's enterprise names or names leads people to mistakenly believe that other people's goods" belongs to the category of using unfair means to engage in market transactions and damage competitors.

Defend "DNA"

"For everyone, their name is like DNA on their body." Michael Jordan said through a video yesterday, "A Chinese sports company uses my Chinese name to do business in China without my authorization. I am very sad to see someone infringe on my image rights like this. I have no other choice but to go to court."

Jordan Sports released a public statement on its website yesterday, emphasizing that the Chinese "Jordan" is a registered trademark that the company has applied for registration in accordance with Chinese law and enjoys the exclusive right to use, and the legal use of the registered trademark is protected by Chinese law.

A person from Jordan Sports Public Relations Department said that no official legal documents had been received at present. With regard to the impact of this case on the company's listing process, the person said that there was no impact at present and that he was still concerned. Jordan Sports was founded in 1984. Like many Jinjiang sports brands, Jordan Sports also came from the Shoe City Jinjiang 。

In 2002, the company's annual output value was only 120 million yuan, and by 2010, the company's sales revenue had jumped to 2.93 billion yuan.

Michael Jordan said that he had provided six relevant requests for the case. The most important one was that Jordan Sports used his name without Jordan's consent, and wanted to stop this infringement. At the same time, he clarified to Chinese consumers that there was no connection between Jordan Sports and Michael Jordan.

According to the information provided by Jordan Sports, the trademark "Jordan" mainly used by the company was registered around 2003. Why does Michael Jordan start to sue Jordan Sports today? It is also a sensitive period on the eve of the other party's listing.

Kang Yi said that at the end of last year, Michael Jordan found his law firm to handle the case

　　 "This is not directly related to its listing," Kang Yi said.

A person familiar with the matter said that the key reason why Junhe Law Firm was able to act as Jordan's agent was its business expansion in the US branch, which was introduced by the consultant of the branch.

　 legal reasoning

According to the prospectus of Jordan Sports, "Jordan", as an ordinary foreigner's surname, is not specific and has no one-to-one correspondence with "Michael Jordan".

The prospectus also discloses that there is no business cooperation relationship with Michael Jordan, nor has it used its image for enterprise and product promotion.

Kang Yi said that Jordan and Jordan have formed a one-to-one relationship in the minds of Chinese audiences. "We also have various other evidences to prove this one-to-one relationship."

Our reporter learned that Jordan Sports is not the first time to cause trouble because of the "Jordan" brand. Before Jordan's personal lawsuit, Nike, which owns the "Air Jordan" high-end brand, sued Jordan Sports for trademark infringement, but it was unsuccessful.

Jordan Sports has already made "strategic reserve".

Its prospectus disclosed that the graphic trademark mainly used by the company's "Jordan" was recognized as a "well-known trademark" by the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce in 2005; The Chinese character trademark "Jordan" was recognized as a "well-known trademark" in 2009.

According to the inquiry of the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (China Trademark Website), Nike International Co., Ltd.'s trademarks, including several JORDAN words, are in the trademark process of "rejection review".

At present, Nike only has the word trademark "MICHAEL JORDAN" and two graphic trademarks registered in China.

It is worth noting that Jordan Sports also has 127 registered trademarks registered in China, including the trademarks containing the words "Little Jordan", "Qiaodan", "Jeffrey Jordan" and "Marcus Jordan".

Jeffrey Jordan and Marcus Jordan are the Chinese translations of Michael Jordan's two sons, Jeffrey Jordan and Marcus Jordan.

According to a senior legal person, legally speaking, China does not have such intellectual property rights as the rights of public figures in the United States. In the legal context of China, the right of name is more appropriate. Since Jordan's Chinese translation itself does not specifically refer to Michael Jordan, it needs to be analyzed in combination with specific circumstances.

However, based on the analysis of the Anti Unfair Competition Law, although Michael Jordan cannot monopolize the Chinese transliteration of Michael Jordan, if ordinary consumers think that someone has used Michael Jordan's name, it is also an infringement.

"This also reminds the company to be cautious when carrying out trademark strategy. Playing the sidelines and hanging around celebrities may get rapid communication effects, but the greater the investment, the greater the risk." Wu Pengbin said.

Kang Yi said that the victory of Yao Ming's lawsuit against the "Yao Ming generation" shows that Chinese law attaches great importance to the protection of athletes' name rights. {page_break}

　　 potential impact

In 2010, the turnover of PEAK, Anta, Li Ning and Jordan in the Chinese market reached 3.849 billion yuan, 7.326 billion yuan, 8.615 billion yuan and 2.912 billion yuan respectively.

Ma Gang, an independent commentator, believes that brands such as Jordan Sports, which occupy the third and fourth tier markets, are increasingly impacted by the first and second tier brands such as Nike, Adidas, Li Ning, and so on. They are in urgent need of cash investment for channel expansion. Once the listing process is blocked, the original plan of marketing investment, channel development costs, product development costs, etc. may have problems.

A number of investment bankers pointed out to our reporter that Jordan Sports, which was involved in a major lawsuit, has a variable path to listing. According to the development of the lawsuit in the future, we will not rule out the possibility of postponing the issuance, but may also face a "second meeting".

One of the requirements of the Measures for the Administration of Initial Public Offering and Listing on the listing of the issuer is that there is no major debt repayment risk, and there is no guarantee, litigation, arbitration and other major contingencies that affect the continuous operation.

At the same time, the Measures require that, after the approval of the issuance application and before the end of the stock issuance, the issuer should suspend or suspend the issuance of major issues, report to the CSRC in a timely manner, and perform the obligation of information disclosure. Where the conditions for issuance are affected, the approval procedure shall be re performed.

The current issuance review process is interlinked, and every link from the submission of materials to the final issuance and listing is likely to be red carded.

Analysts pointed out that enterprises such as Jordan Sports directly face the issuance division 1 and issuance division 2 of the issuance department of the CSRC, which are respectively responsible for legal and financial review.

However, the person said that at the preliminary hearing stage, the issuance department of the CSRC would not make a substantive judgment on whether the issuer could be listed. Its core work is to require the issuer to truthfully disclose any factors that may affect the company's sustainable profitability and asset integrity, including litigation that may arise from trademark rights.

Even if the approval is obtained, there are precedents that enterprises may be rejected due to emergencies in the final stage, such as Shengjing Mountain and River.

The above person pointed out that what the regulators can do is to let the company disclose truthfully, and finally let the investors judge. Therefore, even if Jordan Sports can get the issuance approval in the end, it is still unknown whether it can be recognized by investors at the issuance stage.

"(Brand infringement) This problem, including future pricing and subsequent operations, has always been a big negative factor, depending on how the company handles it and the final verdict." Shi Hongmei, chief analyst of the textile and clothing industry of Orient Securities, pointed out that whether from the perspective of the decline in demand caused by changes in consumer trends or the impact of external competitors, The domestic sportswear industry itself is difficult at this stage, and its valuation should be at the bottom of all clothing sub industries.