How To Say Goodbye To The Original Sin Of "Jordan Sports Style" Is An Important Issue That Chinese Enterprises Urgently Face

　　 Jordan I'm tired of sports recently. At the critical moment on the eve of its listing, on February 23, the former American basketball superstar Jordan issued a statement that he had filed a lawsuit with a Chinese court, accusing Jordan Sports of "deliberately and without scruple" using his name without permission and misleading Chinese consumers. For a while, there was a public outcry. Although Jordan Sports was calm and said that it had not received the notice of responding to the lawsuit, it was obvious that this time Jordan Sports would have no small trouble. Jordan Sports is seeking to be listed in China, and its IPO application was approved by the CSRC on November 25 last year. Now, Jordan's transnational prosecution has added variables to the listing process.

Many people, including the author, were surprised by Jordan's lawsuit. The author always thought that Jordan Sports had a relationship with Jordan. Celebrities, including Zhang Xin, CEO of SOHO China, and Ma Guangyuan, a famous commentator, also said on their microblogs that they had always thought that Jordan Sports was Jordan's company in China. So it is true that Jordan Sports misleads Chinese consumers. Although Jordan Sports has spent a lot of space in the prospectus disclosed previously to try to get rid of the relationship with Jordan, including that there is no business cooperation, and Jordan has not used his image for publicity Jordan, as an ordinary foreigner's surname, has no corresponding relationship with the football star Jordan. However, its prospectus also shows that Jordan Sports has registered the trademarks of "Jeffrey Jordan", "Marcus Jordan", "JIEFULIQIAODAN", "MAKUSIQIAODAN" and their variants, which are exactly the Chinese translations of Jordan's two sons. I'm afraid this is not just a coincidence.

At this point, it can be basically clarified that Jordan Sports used the "registration first" principle of the Trademark Law to preempt the registration, obtain the exclusive right of the "Jordan" trademark, and objectively make consumers associate Jordan Sports with Jordan himself, which is equivalent to indirectly using Jordan's own image.

The final legal decision of this lawsuit is still unknown. However, no matter what the conclusion is, it will be a "lose" result for Jordan Sports. On the one hand, Jordan's lawsuit will increase the listing variables of Jordan Sports, and the listing process may be blocked, which will break its established development strategy, and may even lead to a capital chain crisis; On the other hand, the use of the "Jordan" brand has made it face huge risks in overseas market expansion and capital operation, and hindered its development space; Third, Jordan Sports' brand image and reputation accumulated for many years will be damaged due to suspected misleading consumers, which will be a heavy blow.

Jordan Sports has grown from a small factory in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, established in 1984 to a sales revenue of 2.93 billion yuan in 2010, which is located in the listed independent sports Clothes & Accessories The sixth place of the brand company can't be achieved only by taking the free ride of "Jordan". The two generations of operators of the enterprise have made nearly 30 years of efforts and efforts, and have been through the baptism of the market. Wouldn't it be a pity to suffer major setbacks as a result?

Marx vividly described the profit seeking nature of capital in Das Kapital. He even cursed: "When capital comes into the world, from head to foot, every pore drips blood and dirty things." That is why there are all kinds of original sins in the business world. With the progress of social civilization and the improvement of democracy and the legal system, what modern society needs is an enterprise with a clear background and a sense of social responsibility. If an enterprise becomes a brand, it must be subject to more rigorous scrutiny. At this time, it is difficult to hide its original sin, and the enterprise even needs to pay a heavy price for it. This is true from Guizhen Hall to Jordan Sports.

Worryingly, it is not uncommon for Chinese enterprises to be similar to "Jordan Sports". In addition to Jordan, there are also Kobe and Iverson. If these enterprises try to become bigger, they will inevitably face the original sin of Jordan Sports. If such problems exist, they should be solved early to avoid endless consequences. The predecessor of the 361 degree sportswear brand is Buick (Fujian) shoes Later, in order to avoid trademark disputes with Buick, a subsidiary of General Motors, Buick changed its brand name to 361D in 2004, solving this potential risk. In recent years, 361D has developed rapidly and successfully.

Chinese enterprises are currently going through the process of seeking to become bigger and stronger and achieve branding. How to say goodbye to the original sin of "Jordan Sports" is an important issue that Chinese enterprises are urgently facing. Here, the author reminds enterprises to consider not only legal risks, but also public relations when customizing strategies. In short, they should take into account the public interest, social ethics, social responsibility, etc. while pursuing their own interests, that is, they should respect the interests of stakeholders and seek harmonious development inside and outside, Only in this way can enterprises avoid crises and risks to the maximum extent.