Nike Files Civil Suit Over Liu Xiang Trademark

Nike has filed a civil suit against the Trademark Appeal Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce after its trademark application for the name Chinese Olympic god medalist Liu Xiang was rejected.

At a hearing in Beijing No 1 Intermediate People’s Court on November 27, attorneys for the appeal board said Nike’s application was denied because a similar trademark using the Chinese characters for “Liu Xiang Pai”, the name of the athlete’s father, was registered by a Shanghai clothing company 26 years ago.

That trademark, with three Chinese characters and an eagle image in its logo, is valid for five more years, they said.

If Nike’s application was approved it would cause confusion and mislead customers because both trademarks would be used on clothes, attorneys for the appeal board told the court.

Lawyers Nike disagreed, contending consumers would not be misled because of the huge global reputation of the company and Liu, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 110-meter hurdles.

Nike argued that Liu’s name has great commercial value because it is a household name in China – and his right to merchandise his name should be protected by law.

Nike’s lawyer claimed that even before Liu became famous, the company signed a contract with him that authorised commercial use of his name and image.

The company already has a series of approved trademarks such as “liuxiang” and “LX”, but does not have the rights to the Chinese characters for his name.

The appeal board responded that prior rights cannot be violated no matter how famous is.

Liu Jianzhong of the Shanghai company said it was a coincidence that his father registered the Liu Xiang Pai trademark, because the hurdler Liu was only 3-years-old boy at the time.

He said the trademark was derived from his family name Liu combined with Xiang based on the company’s location in Yixiang village.

He said transfer of the trademark is possible, but would depend on the price.{jcomments on}