乔丹击败乔丹体育到底有多难?

北京时间12月8日，最高人民法院就乔丹商标争议行政纠纷系列案件给出了最终的宣判。据官方媒体称，该公司为其商标辩护的理由是，许多人——包括4600名中国公民——都叫“乔丹”这个名字，“乔丹”这两个字让人联想起中国南方常见的草和树木。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

soy milk豆奶；豆浆

silhouette轮廓，剪影[,s?l?'et]

Heineken喜力（荷兰啤酒品牌）

verdict结论；裁定['v??d?kt]

jersey运动衫，毛线衫['d???z?]

registration注册；挂号[red??'stre??(?)n]

malicious恶毒的；蓄意的[m?'l???s]

obsession痴迷；困扰[?b'se?(?)n]

Michael Jordan claims victory in China trademark dispute（613 words）

By Tom Hancock in Hong Kong

China’s top court has ruled that Michael Jordan has rights over the Chinese translation of his surname,cancelling several trademarks that a local sports company registered to market products from swimsuits to soy milk.

The former Chicago Bulls basketball star sued Qiaodan Sports in 2012,saying the company — whose logo is a silhouette of a leaping basketball player — built its business around his Chinese surname Qiaodan（pronounced chow-dan) without permission.

It is a rare victory for a foreign brand in China,where companies from Apple to Heineken have lost trademark battles. But observers said the verdict did not guarantee the immediate disappearance of the name from the company’s basketball jerseys.

The supreme court on Thursday overturned previous verdicts supporting three of the Chinese company’s trademarks,adding that Mr Jordan’s right to use his name had been violated by Qiaodan,which had deliberately misled the public.

Citing Mr Jordan’s fame in China,judge Tao Kaiyuan said“Qiaodan’s registration of the disputed trademarks clearly showed malicious intent”,in an hour-long ruling that was streamed live on the court’s website. The trademarks cover several kinds of sports clothing,drinks and even Christmas tree decorations.

Mr Jordan is the highest-paid athlete of all time with earnings of $1.7bn since 1984,according to Forbes. He is hugely popular in China,where basketball — in particular the NBA — is a national obsession.

The case is the latest example of a high-profile western brand running into Chinese trademark trouble. Apple was forced in 2012 to pay $60m to a local company that had registered the iPad name after a court rejected its right to the trademark.

Mr Jordan said in a statement:“I am happy that the Supreme People’s Court has recognised the right to protect my name through its ruling in the trademark cases.”But the ruling represents only a partial victory for Mr Jordan,who has disputed as many as 70 of Qiaodan’s trademarks. Many of those are nearly impossible to revoke under Chinese law,which protects trademarks registered more than five years ago. The court also ruled that the company could keep trademarks using Qiaodan in Pinyin,a Romanised version of Chinese.

Qiaodan said in a statement that the supreme court had rejected Mr Jordan’s request to cancel 50 trademarks — probably those older than five years. The ruling“won’t have any impact on all on the trademarks the company is currently using”,it added.

A person close to Mr Jordan’s legal team said they viewed the verdict as a step towards victory in an upcoming civil case in Shanghai,which they hope will prevent Qiaodan from using their client’s name on its products and result in compensation of Rmb50m（$7m) — a sum Mr Jordan says will be donated towards basketball’s development in China.

The Chinese company started life in the 1980s as Fujian Province Jinjiang Township Chendi Brookside General Supplies Factory Number Two,reinventing itself as Qiaodan Sports in 2000.

It has defended its trademarks by saying that many people — including 4,600 Chinese citizens — have the name Jordan,and that the characters comprising the name evoke grass and trees found in southern China,according to state-run media.

Joe Simone,an intellectual property specialist based in Hong Kong,said Friday’s rulings left it uncertain whether Mr Jordan and Nike,which sells trainers under his name,could prevent the Chinese company from using the name through future proceedings.

Given the difficulties in overturning trademarks,the lesson for foreign businesses is clear,he added:“File for your marks in China early — preferably at the same time as you file in your home country. The Chinese market can be lucrative. But only if you have registered your names,designs and inventions locally.”

1.When did Michael Jordan sue Qiaodan Sports in China?

A. 1998

B. 2011

C. 2012

D. 2016

答案(1)

2.Which one is not right for Apple’s case in China?

A. Apple lost the trademark battle

B. Apple got $60m from a local company as compensation

C. verdict result was published in 2012

D. the Chinese company registered the iPad name first

答案(2)

3.Why is it nearly impossible to revoke the most Qiaodan’s trademarks?

A. the Chinese company has changed the name

B. they were registered more than five years

C. they are meaningless now

D. foreign brands are unprotected

答案(3)

4.Where did the Chinese company started life in the 1980s?

A. New York

B. Beijing

C. Fujian

D. Hongkong

答案(4)

(1) 答案：C.2012

解释：这位芝加哥公牛队前篮球明星在2012年起诉乔丹体育(Qiaodan Sports)，称该公司（其公司标识是一个在赛场上驰骋的篮球运动员的剪影）在未经许可的情况下，用他的中文姓氏“乔丹”打造了业务。

(2) 答案：B.Apple got $60m from a local company as compensation

解释：2012年，苹果在法院拒绝其商标权后，被迫向一家当地公司支付6000万美元，后者抢先注册了iPad名称。

(3) 答案：B.they were registered more than five years

解释：这项裁决对乔丹来说只是部分胜利；乔丹对乔丹公司的70多个商标提出异议。中国法律保护那些在超过5年前注册的商标，这意味着其中许多商标几乎不可能撤销。

(4) 答案：C.Fujian

解释：乔丹公司诞生于上世纪80年代，原名是福建省晋江市陈埭溪边日用品二厂，2000年更名为乔丹体育。