Case Digests
In-depth analysis of landmark IP litigation cases in China. Our AI-powered digests provide key holdings, strategic implications, and practical insights for intellectual property practitioners.
Michael Jordan Wins Landmark Name Rights Victory Against Chinese "Qiaodan" Trademark
Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China • 3/4/2020
In our landmark winning, a retrial judgment, China's Supreme People's Court ruled in favor of basketball legend Michael Jordan, ordering the cancellation of Qiaodan Sports Co.'s trademark registration for "乔丹及图" (Qiaodan and Device). The Court found that Qiaodan Co. violated Jordan's prior name rights under Article 31 of China's Trademark Law by registering a mark that Chinese consumers strongly associated with Jordan without his authorization. The decision reversed lower court rulings and corrected factual errors regarding Jordan's recognition in China, where 63.8% to 85% of consumers immediately associated "Qiaodan" with the basketball star. However, the Court rejected Jordan's image rights claims regarding the silhouette logo, finding it lacked identifiable personal features. The ruling represents a significant victory for foreign celebrities' name rights protection in China and demonstrates the Supreme People's Court's willingness to override administrative agencies when trademark registrations amount to bad faith appropriation of celebrity names.
New Balance trademark case
Advised New Balance on successfully reducing to RMB 5 million a record-breaking RMB 98 million first instance award to a trademark squatter in the unfair competition and trademark infringement dispute between New Balance and Zhou the squatter. The case was lost in previous instance when the client turned to Gordon's team.
Rolex v. Beijing Cinet
Represented Rolex against Beijing Cinet for its cybersquatting on Rolex's trademark rights (selected as one of the first Supreme Court Top Fifty IP Cases).
NEC corporate identity theft case
Advised NEC on obtaining injunctions and damages in its corporate identity theft case before numerous Chinese courts against more than 50 Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong and Japanese defendants, and ultimately won the entire case. The case was widely discussed at the INTA Conference.
Tesla trademark case
Represented Tesla in canceling several squatted trademarks and obtaining a favorable settlement in a trademark case against a local trademark squatter.
Ralph Lauren trademark cases
Represented Ralph Lauren Corp. against several trademark squatters and infringers in over twenty litigation proceedings. Used creative approaches to collect evidence, and achieved favorable breakthroughs in these proceedings.