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China's top court issued a verdict on Thursday in a lengthy trademark dispute involving U.S. basketball legend Michael Jordan's right to protect his name.
The Supreme People's Court ruled that the registered trademark of Chinese company Qiaodan Sports -- "Qiaodan" is a transliteration of "Jordan" in Chinese characters -- infringes on Jordan's right to his name and violates provisions of the Trademark Law.
"'Qiaodan' in the Chinese characters has a strong connection to the basketball player, and most Chinese will think of Jordan when they see 'Qiaodan' written in Chinese," said Tao Kaiyuan, vice-president of the top court.
The verdict orders the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to revoke the trademark and to issue a new ruling over the use of Chinese characters in the brand name "Qiaodan".
However, the Supreme People's Court permits the Fujian province shoe and sportswear company's use of Qiaodan related trademarks registered in Pinyin, thus partially ruling against Jordan.
