1st Ld: Supreme Court hears Michael Jordan's trademark appeal

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Tuesday publicly tried a trademark dispute case lodged by U.S. basketball icon Michael Jordan against a Chinese firm and the trademark authority.

In 2012, Michael Jordan accused Qiaodan Sports Co. Ltd., a Chinese sportswear and shoe manufacturer, of unauthorized use of his name and identity. "Qiaodan" is the Chinese translation for Jordan.

Jordan lodged an appeal to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce to revoke the trademarks in dispute, but this was rejected.

Later, Jordan filed two lawsuits against the adjudication of the trademark authority but lost both.

Courts upheld the adjudication on the grounds that the Chinese translation "Qiaodan" is the translation of a common family name, not necessarily the basketballer's name, and the Chinese translation "Qiaodan" as featured in the trademark differs from the Chinese translation of "Maike'er Qiaodan," or "Michael Jordan."

Besides, the graphic part of the trademark, a silhouette of a man playing basketball, is a general image, featuring no facial appearances, making identification difficult, according to verdict of the second trial.

In 2015, Jordan appealed to the SPC for a retrial. The SPC accepted the appeal on the basis of the Administrative Procedural Law.

Tuesday's trial featured the court investigation, debates and final statements. A verdict has not yet been reached.

Court debates centered on a slew of issues, including legal bases of the rights to a name, whether the trademark necessarily leads to identification of the Michael Jordan, and whether Qiaodan Sports Co. Ltd. registered the brand name with intentional malice.

The SPC is trying this case in public on World Intellectual Property Day, demonstrating the importance Chinese courts attach to intellectual property rights (IPR), said Xue Jun, vice dean of the law school of Peking University. Endi