China’s top court has ruled that Michael Jordan has rights over the Chinese translation of his surname, cancelling several trademarks that a local sports company registered to market products from swimsuits to soy milk.

中国最高法院裁定迈克尔.乔丹(Michael Jordan)对其姓氏的中文译名拥有权利，撤销了中国一家体育公司的注册商标，这些商标被用于销售各种产品，从泳装到豆浆。

The former Chicago Bulls basketball star sued Qiaodan Sports in 2012, saying the company — whose logo is a silhouette of a leaping basketball player — built its business around his Chinese surname Qiaodan (pronounced chow-dan) without permission.

这位芝加哥公牛队前篮球明星在2012年起诉乔丹体育(Qiaodan Sports)，称该公司（其公司标识是一个在赛场上驰骋的篮球运动员的剪影）在未经许可的情况下，用他的中文姓氏乔丹打造了业务。

It is a rare victory for a foreign brand in China, where companies from Apple to Heineken have lost trademark battles.

这是一个外国品牌在中国胜诉的罕见案例；从苹果(Apple)到喜力(Heineken)，很多公司都曾在中国输掉商标战。

But observers said the verdict did not guarantee the immediate disappearance of the name from the company’s basketball jerseys.

但观察人士表示，这一裁决并不保证乔丹之名会很快从该公司的篮球衫上消失。

The supreme court on Thursday overturned previous verdicts supporting three of the Chinese company’s trademarks, adding that Mr Jordan’s right to use his name had been violated by Qiaodan, which had deliberately misled the public.

中国最高人民法院周四推翻了以往支持乔丹公司三个商标的裁决，并补充称，乔丹的姓名权受到了故意误导公众的乔丹公司的侵犯。

Citing Mr Jordan’s fame in China, judge Tao Kaiyuan said Qiaodan’s registration of the disputed trademarks clearly showed malicious intent, in an hour-long ruling that was streamed live on the court’s website.

陶凯元大法官在最高院网站图文直播的一小时裁决中提到乔丹在中国的名声，她表示，乔丹公司对于争议商标的注册具有明显的主观恶意。

The trademarks cover several kinds of sports clothing, drinks and even Christmas tree decorations.

涉案商标涵盖多种运动服装、饮料，甚至圣诞树装饰品。

Mr Jordan is the highest-paid athlete of all time with earnings of $1.7bn since 1984, according to Forbes.

根据《福布斯》(Forbes)数据，乔丹是史上最高薪的运动员，自1984年以来总收入达17亿美元。

He is hugely popular in China, where basketball — in particular the NBA — is a national obsession.

他在中国享有极高人气；中国人对篮球比赛，尤其是美国职业篮球联赛(NBA)，情有独钟。

The case is the latest example of a high-profile western brand running into Chinese trademark trouble.

本案是一个西方知名品牌遭遇中国商标问题的最新事例。

Apple was forced in 2012 to pay $60m to a local company that had registered the iPad name after a court rejected its right to the trademark.

2012年，苹果在法院拒绝其商标权后，被迫向一家当地公司支付6000万美元，后者抢先注册了iPad名称。

Mr Jordan said in a statement: I am happy that the Supreme People’s Court has recognised the right to protect my name through its ruling in the trademark cases.

乔丹在一份声明中表示：我很高兴最高人民法院通过对商标案件的裁决，承认了我的姓名权。

But the ruling represents only a partial victory for Mr Jordan, who has disputed as many as 70 of Qiaodan’s trademarks.

但是，这项裁决对乔丹来说只是部分胜利；乔丹对乔丹公司的70多个商标提出异议。

Many of those are nearly impossible to revoke under Chinese law, which protects trademarks registered more than five years ago.

中国法律保护那些在超过5年前注册的商标，这意味着其中许多商标几乎不可能撤销。

The court also ruled that the company could keep trademarks using Qiaodan in Pinyin, a Romanised version of Chinese.

最高院还裁定，该公司可以继续使用乔丹之名的拼音商标，即Qiaodan。

Qiaodan said in a statement that the supreme court had rejected Mr Jordan’s request to cancel 50 trademarks — probably those older than five years.

乔丹公司在一份声明中表示，最高法院拒绝了乔丹撤销50个商标的主张，这很可能是指那些5年以上的商标。

The ruling won’t have any impact on all on the trademarks the company is currently using, it added.

裁决对我司目前使用的所有商标均不会构成影响。

A person close to Mr Jordan’s legal team said they viewed the verdict as a step towards victory in an upcoming civil case in Shanghai, which they hope will prevent Qiaodan from using their client’s name on its products and result in compensation of Rmb50m ($7m) — a sum Mr Jordan says will be donated towards basketball’s development in China.

接近乔丹的法律团队的一名人士表示，他们认为这项裁决是朝向在上海即将审理的一宗民事案件中取得胜诉迈出的一步，他们希望该案将阻止乔丹公司在其产品上使用乔丹之名，并赔偿5000万人民币（合700万美元）——乔丹表示，这笔赔偿金将捐赠给中国的篮球事业。

The Chinese company started life in the 1980s as Fujian Province Jinjiang Township Chendi Brookside General Supplies Factory Number Two, reinventing itself as Qiaodan Sports in 2000.

乔丹公司诞生于上世纪80年代，原名是福建省晋江市陈埭溪边日用品二厂，2000年更名为乔丹体育。

It has defended its trademarks by saying that many people — including 4,600 Chinese citizens — have the name Jordan, and that the characters comprising the name evoke grass and trees found in southern China, according to state-run media.

据官方媒体称，该公司为其商标辩护的理由是，许多人——包括4600名中国公民——都叫乔丹这个名字，乔丹这两个字让人联想起中国南方常见的草和树木。

Joe Simone, an intellectual property specialist based in Hong Kong, said Friday’s rulings left it uncertain whether Mr Jordan and Nike, which sells trainers under his name, could prevent the Chinese company from using the name through future proceedings.

常驻香港的知识产权专家乔.西莫内(Joe Simone)表示，周四的裁决并未明确乔丹以及使用他的姓氏销售运动鞋的耐克(Nike)是否可以借助后续的诉讼，阻止乔丹公司使用乔丹之名。

Given the difficulties in overturning trademarks, the lesson for foreign businesses is clear, he added: File for your marks in China early — preferably at the same time as you file in your home country.

他补充说，考虑到撤销商标的困难，本案对在华外资企业的教训是很清楚的：及早在中国注册你的商标——最好是在你在本国注册商标的同时。

The Chinese market can be lucrative.

中国市场可能是有利可图的

But only if you have registered your names, designs and inventions locally.

但只有当你在当地注册了自己的名称、设计和发明之后才是如此。