No Shame – Jordan Brand Knock-Off Sues Nike
A simple mistake has caused an onslaught of legal trouble. The Swoosh registered the trademark for '' in China during the 90s, but failed to register the phonetic translation of 'Jordan' – qiaodan – which a Chinese brand wasted no time in snapping up.
Qiadon's logo and many of their footwear designs are shameless Jordan rip-offs (peep the gallery above!). The result has been a 16-year stream of trademark disputes, and now the courtroom is set to fire up again.
Switching things up, Qiaodan have filed proceedings against the Swoosh! They claim that 'Nike infringed upon its "exclusive rights to the trademarks" and caused "unfair competition".' Lol. The brand is seeking a public apology from Nike and roughly 300,000 yuan in compensation (roughly $50,000 USD).
While the trademark infringement seems like a hilarious open and shut case, it isn't so simple under Chinese law. We'll need to wait to see how this one unfolds.