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2019 NBA All-Star Game

Source: Streeter Lecka / Getty

Michael Jordan’s 2021 has gotten off to a good start, sort of.

New reports claim the living legend has been awarded $46,000 for emotional damages and an additional $7,600 for legal expenses in his lawsuit against knockoff brand Qiaodan. According to Variety, Qiaodan has to issue a public apology “in print and online clarifying it has no connection to the basketballer himself.” But, Jordan wasn’t awarded full rights to his name.

“In the latest installment of Jordan’s years-long saga of trademark suits, a Shanghai court ruled Wednesday that a Chinese sportswear and shoe manufacturer that has used his name as its brand for decades did so without authorization and with the intention to ‘mislead’ consumers. It did not, however, appear to revoke the company’s right to use the phoentic English spelling of Jordan’s name in Chinese translation,” Variety reports.

“The company must stop using the Chinese characters of ‘Qiaodan’ in its corporate name and product trademarks, and issue a public apology in print and online clarifying that it has no connection to the basketballer himself, the court ruled. It must also take ‘reasonable measures’ to indicate and clarify that its older trademarks have no actual ties to the NBA star,” the site goes on to note, adding “The latter is a concession to the fact that China can’t order to order the company to stop using Jordan’s name entirely. The country’s trademark law stipulates that there is a five-year window in which registered trademarks may be disputed. Many of Qiaodan’s Jordan-related trademarks are more than five years old, meaning that they are technically now irrevocable.”

The aforementioned monetary winnings are pennies to Jordan, a billionaire, but it’s a win nonetheless. More details on the years-long lawsuit here.

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