Counterfeit Air Jordans are nothing new to the game as for years hypebeasts and collectors have been duped into paying top dollar for bootleg sneakers that closely resemble the real thing.
But Michael Jordan’s legal team actually took one brand to task for not necessarily bootlegging his sneakers, but for flagrantly biting the style of some classic Jordan silhouettes including the Air Jordan 7’s and Air Jordan 14’s and passing it off as their own. Highsnobiety is reporting that after eight long years, Michael Jordan’s lawsuit against Chinese brand Qiaodan Sports has finally come to an end as the Chinese Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Jordan and concluded that Qiaodan (which apparently translate to “Jordan” in Mandarin) misled it’s consumers with their sneaker line.
“The ruling made by the top court not only recognized Jordan’s right to protect his name across China, but also upheld the equal protection standards offered in IP disputes,” said Kang Lixia, an IP lawyer from Beijing Conzen Law Firm.
Originally the drama between the two brands had ended in 2016 with Jordan winning the obvious dispute, but Qiaodan proceeded to countersue Nike for “malicious slander” and “trademark infringement.” Qiaodan was seeking a public apology from Nike and $47,400 in damages. That’s not much but it’s the principality of everything, right?
While this latest decision handed Qiaodan another “L,” they can continue to use it’s logo which sort of resembles the classic Jumpman but instead is basically Jordan attempting a layup… or finger roll. Because of that alone “senior IP researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Li Shunde, believes this will not be the last trademark dispute between Jordan and Qiaodan.”
Ugh. This is the world we live in.
Check out some images of the fake/real sneakers below and try not to clown anyone who has a pair of these. They are in fact real sneakers, just not really real, you know?
Source: HipHopWired.com
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