Michael Jordan has been fighting Qiaodan Sports for years. This company has registered approximately 500 trademarks with variations of names of the major NBA basketball players. In the same way a silhouette of a basketball player was registered with the name Qiaodan (“Jordan” in Chinese characters). The trademark was registered for clothing, shoes, etc. in class 25.
The Supreme People Court (Chinese Supreme Court) holds that Michael Jordan is a well-known public figure with a huge reputation (well beyond the scope of basketball). Jordan is known under the name Qiaodan in Chinese characters and is therefore entitled to this name. The Chinese consumer may think that there is a connection between the trademark owner (Qiaodan Sports) and Michael Jordan, or that he has licensed or given permission for this use. For that reason, the trademark registration is considered in bad faith.
