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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Jordan, the hall-of-fame basketball player
who heads his own division at the world's largest sporting-goods maker Nike
Inc., sued a Chinese maker of sportswear and shoes for unauthorized use of
his name.
Jordan, who won six National Basketball Association championships with the
Chicago Bulls, filed the lawsuit with a Chinese court against Qiaodan Sports
Co., according to a statement distributed by PR Newswire. The Chinese
company, which is preparing to raise 1.06 billion yuan ($168 million) in a
listing in Shanghai, is accused of using Jordan's Chinese name and jersey
number 23 without permission.
"It is deeply disappointing to see a company build a business off my Chinese
name without my permission, use the number 23 and even attempt to use the
names of my children," Jordan said in a statement. "I am taking this action
to preserve ownership of my name and my brand."
NBA games shown on state broadcaster China Central Television and Chinese
players including Yao Ming have helped make basketball the nation's second-
most popular sport. Nike, which counts Jordan and current NBA stars Kobe
Bryant and Lebron James among its endorsers, said its sales in China for the
quarter ended Nov. 30 rose 28 percent from a year earlier to $650 million
when excluding currency changes.
Asked if Nike was involved in the lawsuit, Josh Gartner, a spokesman for
Jordan's legal team, said by e-mail that the former NBA player "is employing
his own legal counsel."
Same Name
The company's name and its trademark are the same as the Chinese version of
Jordan's name.
The Chinese company, with registered capital of 450 million yuan and based
in Southern China's Fujian province, won approval from the nation's
securities regulator in November for an initial public offering of 112.5
million shares.
In its IPO prospectus released on Nov. 21, Qiaodan said investors should be
aware of potential trademark risks, saying some consumers may link the
company and its products to Jordan due to confusion, though it claimed to
have no commercial relationships with the former NBA star and has never used
his image in promotions.
Jordan hadn't raised any complaints against Qiaodan regarding the trademark
since the company was established in 2000, according to the prospectus
posted on the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
"Qiaodan is a trademark registered under the Chinese law by our company and
the legitimate use of the trademark is protected," the company said in a
statement today, as cited by the official Xinhua News Agency.
Qiaodan has opened 5,715 retail outlets in all 31 of China's provinces and
municipalities, according to the prospectus. In 2011, the company signed
Chuck Hayes, currently a member of the NBA's Sacramento Kings, to a
sponsorship agreement, according to the prospectus.
Jordan said in the statement issued today that any monetary awards from the
lawsuit "will be invested in growing the sport of basketball in China." |
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