邁克爾?喬丹打贏中國(guó)商標(biāo)案

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.

中國(guó)最高法院裁定邁克爾•喬丹(Michael Jordan)對(duì)其姓氏的中文譯名擁有權(quán)利，撤銷(xiāo)了中國(guó)一家體育公司的注冊(cè)商標(biāo)，這些商標(biāo)被用于銷(xiāo)售各種產(chǎn)品，從泳裝到豆?jié){。

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.

這位芝加哥公牛隊(duì)前籃球明星在2012年起訴喬丹體育(Qiaodan Sports)，稱(chēng)該公司(其公司標(biāo)識(shí)是一個(gè)在賽場(chǎng)上馳騁的籃球運(yùn)動(dòng)員的剪影)在未經(jīng)許可的情況下，用他的中文姓氏“喬丹”打造了業(yè)務(wù)。

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.

這是一個(gè)外國(guó)品牌在中國(guó)勝訴的罕見(jiàn)案例;從蘋(píng)果(Apple)到喜力(Heineken)，很多公司都曾在中國(guó)輸?shù)羯虡?biāo)戰(zhàn)。但觀察人士表示，這一裁決并不保證“喬丹”之名會(huì)很快從該公司的籃球衫上消失。

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.

中國(guó)最高人民法院周四推翻了以往支持喬丹公司三個(gè)商標(biāo)的裁決，并補(bǔ)充稱(chēng)，喬丹的姓名權(quán)受到了故意誤導(dǎo)公眾的喬丹公司的侵犯。

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.

陶凱元大法官在最高院網(wǎng)站圖文直播的一小時(shí)裁決中提到喬丹在中國(guó)的名聲，她表示，“喬丹公司對(duì)于爭(zhēng)議商標(biāo)的注冊(cè)具有明顯的主觀惡意”。涉案商標(biāo)涵蓋多種運(yùn)動(dòng)服裝、飲料，甚至圣誕樹(shù)裝飾品。

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.

根據(jù)《福布斯》(Forbes)數(shù)據(jù)，喬丹是史上最高薪的運(yùn)動(dòng)員，自1984年以來(lái)總收入達(dá)17億美元。他在中國(guó)享有極高人氣;中國(guó)人對(duì)籃球比賽，尤其是美國(guó)職業(yè)籃球聯(lián)賽(NBA)，情有獨(dú)鐘。

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.

本案是一個(gè)西方知名品牌遭遇中國(guó)商標(biāo)問(wèn)題的最新事例。2012年，蘋(píng)果在法院拒絕其商標(biāo)權(quán)后，被迫向一家當(dāng)?shù)毓局Ц?000萬(wàn)美元，后者搶先注冊(cè)了iPad名稱(chēng)。

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.”

喬丹在一份聲明中表示：“我很高興最高人民法院通過(guò)對(duì)商標(biāo)案件的裁決，承認(rèn)了我的姓名權(quán)。”

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.

但是，這項(xiàng)裁決對(duì)喬丹來(lái)說(shuō)只是部分勝利;喬丹對(duì)喬丹公司的70多個(gè)商標(biāo)提出異議。中國(guó)法律保護(hù)那些在超過(guò)5年前注冊(cè)的商標(biāo)，這意味著其中許多商標(biāo)幾乎不可能撤銷(xiāo)。

The court also ruled that the company could keep trademarks using Qiaodan in Pinyin, a Romanised version of Chinese.

最高院還裁定，該公司可以繼續(xù)使用“喬丹”之名的拼音商標(biāo)，即“Qiaodan”。

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.

喬丹公司在一份聲明中表示，最高法院拒絕了喬丹撤銷(xiāo)50個(gè)商標(biāo)的主張，這很可能是指那些5年以上的商標(biāo)。裁決“對(duì)我司目前使用的所有商標(biāo)均不會(huì)構(gòu)成影響”。

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.

接近喬丹的法律團(tuán)隊(duì)的一名人士表示，他們認(rèn)為這項(xiàng)裁決是朝向在上海即將審理的一宗民事案件中取得勝訴邁出的一步，他們希望該案將阻止喬丹公司在其產(chǎn)品上使用喬丹之名，并賠償5000萬(wàn)人民幣(合700萬(wàn)美元)——喬丹表示，這筆賠償金將捐贈(zèng)給中國(guó)的籃球事業(yè)。

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.

喬丹公司誕生于上世紀(jì)80年代，原名是福建省晉江市陳埭溪邊日用品二廠(chǎng)，2000年更名為喬丹體育。

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.

據(jù)官方媒體稱(chēng)，該公司為其商標(biāo)辯護(hù)的理由是，許多人——包括4600名中國(guó)公民——都叫“喬丹”這個(gè)名字，“喬丹”這兩個(gè)字讓人聯(lián)想起中國(guó)南方常見(jiàn)的草和樹(shù)木。

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.

常駐香港的知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)專(zhuān)家喬•西莫內(nèi)(Joe Simone)表示，周四的裁決并未明確喬丹以及使用他的姓氏銷(xiāo)售運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋的耐克(Nike)是否可以借助后續(xù)的訴訟，阻止喬丹公司使用“喬丹”之名。

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.”

他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，考慮到撤銷(xiāo)商標(biāo)的困難，本案對(duì)在華外資企業(yè)的教訓(xùn)是很清楚的：“及早在中國(guó)注冊(cè)你的商標(biāo)——最好是在你在本國(guó)注冊(cè)商標(biāo)的同時(shí)。中國(guó)市場(chǎng)可能是有利可圖的——但只有當(dāng)你在當(dāng)?shù)刈?cè)了自己的名稱(chēng)、設(shè)計(jì)和發(fā)明之后才是如此。”

Additional reporting by Wan Li in Beijing

萬(wàn)麗北京補(bǔ)充報(bào)道