Jordan's name 'not distinctive or unique'

A court in Beijing has rejected a lawsuit filed by basketball legend Michael Jordan over the use of his Chinese name Qiaodan, saying the name is neither distinctive nor unique.

The court, in refusing to accept the case, ruled that the name was a common one which could refer to a number of people and didn't specifically refer to the NBA superstar, the Securities Times reported yesterday. The report said Jordan was now planning to take the case to a court in Shanghai, but gave no further details.

A spokesman for Jordan's legal team told Shanghai Daily yesterday that so far they hadn't received notice of the rejection.

Jordan had accused Fujian Province-based Qiaodan Sports Co Ltd of building its business around his Chinese name and jersey number.

The lawsuit claimed that the company had made more than 100 trademark applications related to Jordan's name and alleged the company's logo was a silhouette of the former Chicago Bulls star in action.

Registered trademark

The lawsuit claimed Qiaodan Sports "deliberately and aggressively" used his name without permission and misled customers into thinking he authorized its sportswear and footwear.