Here is a good one for you. Qiaodan is a Chinese sportswear company with nearly 6000 outlets in China, which brought in $276 million in revenue last year. The company uses a silhouette logo of Michael Jordan in a similar style and color as the official jumpman logo, only in a different pose. They sell basketball shoes and jerseys with the number 23 on them, and the name "Qiaodan", pronounced “chee-ow dahn, ” is a Chinese version of the name “Jordan”.
Michael Jordan sues Qiaodan for trademark infringement, asking that the company stop using his name and trademark, and $183,000 in damages. So, what does Qiaodan do? They countersue Jordan for $8 million in damages, claiming that Jordan tarnished its reputation and delayed its plan for an initial public offering.
Qiodan's defense claims:
- 4600 Chinese citizens are named "Qiaodan", and therefore Jordan does not have exclusive rights to the name.
- "Qiaodan" is not Michael Jordan's actual name.
- Micahel jordan does not live in China, so he has no right to bring the case.
How's that for brass ones?
