"Jordan's Struggle" - It is difficult to cancel the original registered "Jordan" trademark

U.S. basketball star Michael Jordan sued Jordan Sports Inc. for infringement of his right to name, and Jordan Sporting Company was in legal dispute. Today, Lu Zhihua, deputy director of the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said in an interview with reporters today that it is very difficult to revoke the original registered “Jordan” trademark through lawsuits. This is because it is registered as two pure texts. It is hard to say that pure text is used in the process of use. Violates the current provisions of the Trademark Law.

On February 23, the American basketball trapeze Michael Jordan announced that he had sued the Chinese court for alleged infringement of the right to name. The case has now been filed in the Shanghai court. Today, it was reported that the amount of the name litigation was 50 million. Yuan Renminbi.

According to the provisions of the Chinese Trademark Law, the acquisition of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark adopts the "principle of voluntary registration" and the "principle of application for first priority". Any applicant submitting an application to the Trademark Office can obtain the exclusive right to use the trademark as long as it complies with the relevant conditions stipulated in the Trademark Law.

"Jordan just applied for it from 2000 to 2004. Although Jordan was a famous athlete, basketball was not popular in China at that time. Jordan Jordan's application is in Chinese. Michael Jordan is the English name. The Chinese review is the same as ordinary surnames. Not linked to the athlete's name," said Lu Zhihua. "The problem between them is a problem arising from subsequent use. It does not matter with registration. The right holder, Michael Jordan, has improper use because of improper use of Jordan Sports. His personal appeal, global influence, etc. can be brought to justice through court."

According to reports, after the trademark registration review stage, there are generally three aspects, one is the trademark significance inspection. No significance, no registration is allowed. Second, review the banned terms. Some texts and graphics are the same or similar to the names of countries, national flags, national emblems, etc., or contain ethnic racial discrimination, violations of public order, good customs, etc. The trademark law prohibits registration. Third, review the trademark's prior rights. The applicant must not use the rights of others to register himself, nor register other people's trademarks by improper means.

"The review of other prior rights is generally remedied through a follow-up procedure," said Lu Zhihua, who made a preliminary announcement of the trademark without violating the prohibition clause and the prior rights clause. Any person may raise different opinions. For example, indicate that a trademark infringes its copyright, right to name, or other rights. "If you miss the three-month objection period, this trademark has published a registration announcement, and you can also request the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to revoke the trademark. These laws are clearly stipulated."

Lv Zhihua pointed out that whether it was "Jordan" or "Lin Shuhao," the initial review was to review the basic contents of the above three aspects. If the right holder thinks that he has infringed his or her own right of name or other rights, he may request the people’s court to claim his rights through subsequent relief procedures.

Recently, the star of the red star Jeremy Lin, whose name was registered as a trademark by Wuxi businessmen in 2010, was 4460 yuan. Today, the name Jeremy Lin is assessed by Forbes magazine with a value of approximately 100 million yuan.

For the phenomenon that the names of celebrities have been registered as trademarks, Lu Zhihua stated that the trademark reviewers actively intervened in the state leaders and the people involved in major incidents. There are a lot of people who have their names in China. "If someone applies for Li Ning, we will not register. Unless he comes by himself, he owns a company and has also registered a trademark. Yao Ming also proposed to prohibit the registration of his name in other categories. Not to mention, it is very difficult for the Trademark Office to consider these names through the preliminary review."

In fact, "trademark" as an investment target, many companies are fighting the ball, Lv Zhihua believes that from a legal point of view, these phenomena are people in the development process gradually realized the importance of the brand.