Sports
Michael Jordan vs. Qiaodan: Trademark Lessons in China
Explore the legal battle in China and why protecting names and transliterations is vital for global brands.
The long legal battle between Michael Jordan and China's Qiaodan highlights the challenges of global trademark registration. Discover how phonetic transliteration sparked a multi-million-dollar trademark dispute.
Expanding a brand internationally requires steps that go far beyond placing products on foreign shelves. One of the sports industry's most iconic trademark battles involved basketball legend Michael Jordan and Chinese manufacturer Qiaodan Sports, founded in the 2000s.
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The phonetic loophole and brand creation
When Michael Jordan registered his trademark globally, he secured the Romanized spelling of his name but did not protect the Chinese characters representing its phonetic transliteration. The Chinese manufacturer capitalized on this very loophole: adopting Chinese characters that sound like "Jordan" (Qiaodan), pairing them with a silhouette inspired by the classic Jumpman logo, and even registering trademarks referencing the number 23 and the basketball star's family members.
For years, the company expanded unhindered, opening thousands of brick-and-mortar stores across China. The dispute peaked around 2011 as Qiaodan prepared for an initial public offering (IPO) on the stock exchange, prompting Michael Jordan to file lawsuits in Chinese courts to stop the unauthorized commercial use of his identity.
From local wins to supreme court reversal
Chinese courts initially ruled in favor of the local manufacturer. Lower courts argued that "Jordan" is a common Western surname, the silhouette did not feature the athlete's actual face, and the five-year statute of limitations to contest certain registrations had expired. Qiaodan relied on these lower-court rulings for years.
The turning point came when the focus shifted to consumer confusion. Surveys submitted during the litigation revealed that 93% of customers believed they were purchasing officially licensed Michael Jordan products. Faced with proof of widespread consumer deception, China's Supreme People's Court ordered the company to cease using the transliteration of his name in corporate branding, issue a formal public apology, and change its name to Zhongqiao.
Key lessons for the global sports market
The case serves as a practical warning for athletes, entrepreneurs, and brands planning international expansion: intellectual property protection must account for local jurisdictional nuances, covering not only original Latin-script spellings, but also visual symbols and transliterations in local languages and writing systems.
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