American basket legend defeats Chinese company "commercially"

NBA legend Michael Jordan emerged victorious from his trademark lawsuit after the Supreme Court of China ruled in his favor, ending an eight-year legal battle with a Chinese sportswear company illegally using his name.

Intellectual property rights are among the most fundamental differences in the trade war between the United States and China. Last January, the first stage of an agreement was signed, in which Beijing pledges to improve intellectual property protection. Within the spirit of this agreement, the historic decision, issued late last month, banned Fujian-based Kyodan Sports, from using the Chinese translation of Jordan's name, Kyaw Dan.
The Chicago Bulls legend, who won the NBA six times between 1991 and 1998, is very popular in China, the country that loves basketball.

The Supreme Court's decision to annul two previous rulings issued in favor of the Chinese company, but nonetheless, it still allows the company to continue to use its logo similar to the "jamban" logo, which is used by "Nike" in promoting the "Jordan brand" sports shoes.
However, allowing the Chinese company to keep the logo has not been resolved yet, if the Supreme Court leaves the door to a retrial after referring the case to the Intellectual Property Office in China.

In 2016, Jordan won the rights to write his name in Chinese characters, but the Supreme Court upheld the company’s right to use its trademark “Kyaw Dan” in English. In a statement issued on Tuesday in the parallel website of Weibo to China, the Chinese company said that the ruling “will not affect normal use To its existing brands, and will not affect normal business operations. " Founded in 2000, the sportswear company operates more than 5,700 stores across the country.

In 2017, NewBalance Sportswear was awarded $ 1.5 million in property rights compensation by a Chinese court because of its famous slogan "An," which was illegally copied by a local sports shoes company.

The verdict comes in Jordan’s favor, which represents a rare victory for any Western trademark in cases of violations of intellectual property rights in China, after US President Donald Trump launched a comprehensive investigation into China's intellectual property record.

The United Nations said this week that last year China became the world leader in international patent registration, thereby removing the United States from the lead it has occupied for more than four decades.