Last year, Qiaodan applied for 12 new trademarks involving Jordan’s name in Chinese, including “Qiaodan Superdry.” These are still waiting approval, according to the Trademark Office of National Intellectual Property Administration. In 2016, the court decided that the use of the Qiaodan name in Chinese characters (乔丹) was a violation of Jordan's naming rights, but that the Chinese company could continue to use the pinyin version in Roman letters, 'Qiaodan'. This year's case was only the second in which Michael Jordan has won a Supreme Court case against Qiaodan. Michael Jordan has failed to overturn 74 of Qiaodan's trademarks. “The Supreme Court verdict has ruled this logo be retried by the trademark office, but we don’t know what the retrial will be like, and we are not sure whether Jordan will sue Qiaodan Sports again after the retrial,” said Xu Chendi, a lawyer for the Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm. The combination of the silhouette and pinyin logo was more recently filed, which is why it was more easily challenged from a legal perspective. Most of these legal losses stem from the fact that there is a five-year statute of limitations on challenging trademarks and Qiaodan has owned some of these trademarks in the Chinese market for decades. BoF also reached out to Nike and Michael Jordan for comment, but neither responded prior to publication. ![]() This should be a relief to Jordan and Nike because, after years of court battles, Michael Jordan has failed to overturn 74 of Qiaodan’s trademarks, according to legal experts and a statement supplied to BoF by Qiaodan Sports. "Maybe the young kids in China are not going that deep in the culture but they know what kind of product will make you cool - they know it's cool to wear Jordan Ones, but wearing Qiaodan is not cool," he added. “I think to the Air Jordan consumer, doesn’t make a difference,” explained Chris Wang, founder and chief executive of Chinese streetwear media platform Nowre, a leading figure in China’s streetwear scene for more than a decade. Understand Consumer Sentiment Before Going to Court Qiaodan can also continue to use the pinyin version of its name “Qiaodan” - just not the two elements together.īut will this latest ruling - or for that matter any future battles over Michael Jordan’s name in Chinese courtrooms - make any difference to the passionate consumer base that the Nike-owned Jordan brand is cultivating in China? The court ruled that the silhouette alone did not violate Jordan’s portraiture rights, because it does not show any defining individual features, meaning Qiaodan can continue to use it as their logo. At present, there remains no clear overall winner or loser. However, the real outcome of this ruling, as with almost everything about this case, is more complicated than recent headlines would have people believe. It is important to note that Qiaodan is a transliteration of Jordan’s surname commonly used by Chinese people and media reports when referring to the basketball star. In April, after an eight-year legal battle, the Chinese company Qiaodan lost the right to one of its trademarks, the combination of its logo (the silhouette of Jordan that Qiaodan has argued was actually an unrelated figure holding a table tennis paddle) and its company name in pinyin, the romanised form of the Chinese language. Headlines declared victory for Jordan in this latest case. Jordan vs Qiaodan Sports trial | Source: The gif seemed to pre-empt the court ruling.Ī gif image that circulated on Chinese social media during the MichaelJordan vs Qiaodan Sports trial | Source: A gif image that circulated on Chinese social media during the MichaelJordan vs Qiaodan Sports trial | Source: Ī gif image that circulated on Chinese social media during the Michael In China, it is a short animated image that went viral on Weibo and other social media platforms just as the country's Supreme People’s Court in Beijing heard an appeal in the long-running case of Michael Jordan vs Qiaodan Sports. ![]() In Hollywood, this scene would be a neat piece of courtroom theatre drawing gasps from the gallery. It is undoubtedly the basketball superstar's silhouette. On top of that image, she slides the logo of China's Qiaodan Sports company, a red figure on a white background which fits perfectly inside the outline. His body moves in one direction while he holds a basketball at full extension outstretched the other way. SHANGHAI, China - A bespectacled lawyer clothed in black robes holds an oversized cardboard placard with a famous image of Michael Jordan playing basketball.
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