为争“刘翔”使用权 耐克状告商评委

Nike Inc. is fighting Chinese trademark authorities to win rights to use the Chinese-language name of Olympic hurdler Liu Xiang in its marketing, the latest in a spate of trademark disputes emerging as Western companies try to build their brands in China.

耐克公司(Nike Inc.)目前正与中国商标机构争夺在其产品营销过程中使用奥运会跨栏运动员刘翔中文名字的权利，这是西方公司试图打造在华品牌所引发的一系列商标纠纷中的最新一起。

The Beaverton, Ore., sportswear company already has the right to use Mr. Liu's image and his name in English spelling,

这家总部位于美国俄勒冈州比弗顿市(Beaverton)的运动服装生产商目前拥有使用刘翔形象及其姓名英文拼写的权利。

The Trademark Appeal Board had previously denied Nike's trademark application, saying that the rights still belong to Chinese garment maker Shanghai Liuxiang Industrial Ltd. Co.

中国国家工商行政管理总局商标评审委员会早前拒绝了耐克将“刘翔注册为商标的申请，说这一权利仍属中国服装生产商上海刘翔实业有限公司(Shanghai Liuxiang Industrial Ltd. Co.)所有。

Now, Nike is suing China's Trademark Appeal Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to use the name, a spokesman for the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court said Wednesday. The court heard the case last week but hasn't yet made a ruling, the spokesman said.

北京市第一中级人民法院发言人周三说，耐克就刘翔名字的使用权状告商评委。这位发言人说，法院上周开庭审理了此案，但尚未做出判决。

Nike didn't respond to requests for comment.

耐克公司没有回应记者的置评要求。

Nike's dispute is the latest in a growing list of court cases that have emerged over the past year over trademarks, underscoring the challenges of branding, naming rights and trademarks in China. While the Chinese government is often criticized for its lack of intellectual-property rights enforcement, the country's own intellectual property laws are known to be so broad that they may prevent world-wide sales of products that are made in China and violate Chinese trademark laws and patent protections.

过去一年，中国出现了越来越多因商标纠纷到法院打官司的现象，耐克与商评委的官司是其中的最新一起。此事凸显出企业在中国进行品牌打造以及使用冠名权和商标的挑战。中国政府常因知识产权执行不力而备受诟病，但其国内知识产权法的覆盖面却十分广泛，这些法规有可能会阻止那些在中国制造的违反了中国商标法和专利保护规定的产品在全球范围内的销售。

In February, Chinese authorities started seizing from retailers Apple Inc.'s AAPL -6.43%iPads that they claimed violated the rights of Proview Electronics Co., a screen maker that owned the trademark to the iPad name. Courts ruled that the Cupertino, Calif., gadget maker pay $60 million to the Chinese company.

今年2月，中国有关部门开始查扣零售商手里的苹果(Apple Inc.)生产的iPad平板电脑，称这些产品侵犯了显示屏生产商唯冠电子(Proview Electronics)的权益，后者声称拥有iPad这一商标。中国法庭后来裁定苹果向唯冠电子支付6,000万美元。

Basketball star Michael Jordan in February cried foul against sportswear chain Qiaodan Sports Co., saying the company improperly used the Chinese version of his name to set up more than 5,700 stores. The verdict is still pending.

美国篮球明星乔丹(Michael Jordan)今年2月对中国运动服生产商乔丹体育股份有限公司(Qiaodan Sports Co.)提起诉讼，称这家公司不当使用了他名字的中文写法建立起5,700多家门店。该案目前仍未宣判。

For years, Nike has built its marketing in China using Mr. Liu, who became a national hero and gained commercial appeal after winning a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Games and setting a world record in the 110-meter hurdles.

多年来，耐克一直借助刘翔在中国进行营销，刘翔在2004年雅典奥运会上赢得110米栏项目金牌并平了该项目的世界纪录后，他在中国成为民族英雄并获得了商业吸引力。

Subway walls around China are plastered with Nike ads featuring the athlete and Nike has also developed lines of apparel commemorating him, using LX and LiuXiang on the products rather than his name in Chinese characters. This summer, Nike launched a special sneaker called the Liu Xiang x Nike LunarGlide+ 4 to add to its other items, such as the Nike LunarGlide LiuXiang Storm Fly running jacket.

中国许多地方地铁车站的 上都曾张贴有耐克印有刘翔形象的广告，耐克还开发了多个系列的服装以庆祝刘翔取得的成绩，产品上印有LX和LiuXiang的字样，而不是刘翔这两个中文字。今年夏天，耐克推出了一款名为Liu Xiang x Nike LunarGlide+ 4的特制运动鞋，以助推该公司其他产品的销售，如Nike LunarGlide LiuXiang Storm Fly跑步衫等。

Shanghai Liuxiang Industrial, a family-run company that started in the mid-1980s, bought the trademark in 1986, long before the athlete earned his Olympic fame, as a logo that represented their family name, Liu, and the village, Yixiang, where the company was founded. The company's owner, Liu Jianzhong, said Nike hasn't approached them for use of the trademark.

家族企业上海刘翔实业有限公司创办于上世纪80年代中期，该公司1986年就买下了“刘翔商标，这比刘翔在雅典夺冠早了十几年。“刘翔这个商标的刘字代表这家企业创办人的姓氏，而翔字则代表该公司的创办地毅翔村。刘翔实业有限公司的所有人刘建中说，耐克公司没有与他们接洽过使用“刘翔商标的事。

China is a critical growth market for Nike. Executives said last year the company aims to reach a target of $4 billion in sales in China by 2015, roughly doubling its sales.

中国对耐克来说是一个重要的增长市常该公司高管去年曾说，耐克的目标是2015年实现在华销售额40亿美元的目标，这一数字约为该公司目前在华销售额的两倍。

Athletic companies like Nike were among the first apparel makers to offer Western-branded clothing to Chinese consumers, which served them well for years. But recently they have faced an uphill battle in the Chinese market, which has been flooded by apparel makers, such as Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB, HM-B.SK +0.09%that have expanded and taken away sales from sports apparel makers.

耐克等运动用品企业属于第一批向中国消费者提供西方品牌服装的服装生产商，这些公司多年来在满足中国消费者需求方面一直做得很好。但它们近年来在中国市场上却遭遇了逆境，瑞典的服装零售商H&M等海外服装企业纷纷涌入中国市场，它们在中国市场的扩张挤占了运动服生产商的市场份额。

Nike executives said in September that its sales in China have been weakening.

耐克的高管今年9月份时说，该公司在中国市场的销售势头一直在减弱。