Comment On Michael Jordan's Trademark Review Board's Trademark Revocation Case

The growing economic value of name rights allows name holders to use their names to engage in diversified business activities in order to earn a good reward,but it also creates a social phenomenon in which many criminals illegally use the names of others.A typical case is the registration of a celebrity's name as a trademark without permission,which actually reflects a conflict of rights between the name and trademark rights.Name registration as a trademark,and some scholars call it "name trademark." In order to limit the abuse of trademark rights,the Trademark Law created a "prior rights" system to protect the existing prior rights of others,and the right of name as a customary right stipulated in the law should be in the category of "prior rights".When we analyze such cases in which name rights and trademark rights conflict,we should break through the inherent mode of double protection of name rights in current judicial practice,and clarify the relationship between the protection of name rights and the protection of commercial interests based on names.Establish a protection model that takes a dual separation of names.The “Jordan” trademark revocation case has three controversial points.Whether Michael Jordan has the right to name the disputed trademark “Jordan”,whether the case belongs to the “adverse influence” clause in the “Trademark Law” and“acquisition by other improper means” The circumstances and whether the disputed trademark should be revoked.Through the analysis of the focus of the case dispute,the following conclusions were drawn: Michael Jordan has the right to name Chinese "Jordan" and enjoys a commercialized interest based on the name.In the application of the “adverse influence” clause,if the trademark only infringes the public interest other than the provisions of the first seven items of Article 10 of the Trademark Law,the “adverse influence” clause as the absolute prohibition of the trademark may be invoked;Infringement of a particular private right and indirect infringement of the public interest,then citing the relative terms of the "prior rights" is sufficient to protect the public interest of a particular private right and indirect damage.The“registration by other improper means” in the Trademark Law refers to the case where a registered trademark applicant obtains registration by other means such as disrupting the registration order of the trademark,damaging the public interest,orimproperly occupying public resources.Finally,retrial of the disputed trademark is not the best policy.