In another lawsuit between Michael Jordan and Qiaodan Sports, the Supreme People’s Court ruled in favor of Michael Jordan over Qiaodan Sports for a trademark dispute. The suit arises at least over the fact that one may translate the name “Jordan” to the phonetic of “Qiaodan” in Chinese. In essence, Michael Jordan argued that his name has been misappropriated, utilized for illicit gains, and has tainted his goodwill. Qiaodan Sports defended themselves with a plethora of counter arguments, at least including the fact that “Qiaodan” may have multiple meanings and even if “Qiaodan” did reference Jordan, it may not reference Michael Jordan.
The end of the trail concluded that Qiaodan Sports misled it’s consumers with at least one of their product lines, infringing on Michael Jordan’s name. Thus, any of Qiaodan Sports’ Chinese registered trademarks bearing “Qiaodan” in the mark will be revoked from use in China. While no settlements are to be paid, and Qiaodan sports will continue to utilize their current logo, other suits are still on-going or pending between Michael and Qiaodan Sports, sure to bring further judgements.
