Greetings, Yang Yang registered his name as a trademark... and now, Lin Dan is thinking the same. And Lin Dan's lawyer will fight for it. But Lin Dan is short of money, as reported by the news. So...... Can anyone help Lin Dan with money ??? This is the news that I have been informed. Cheers... chris@ccc ====== start news ====== Sports celebrities fight name piracy Source: Xinhua 19-Feb-2007 China's world top-ranked badminton player Lin Dan recently registered his Chinese name as a trademark, but it was still a little bit late as some producers have already sought to use his name in business. A Zhejiang-based company has registered Lin Dan's name as a trademark for health products. According to the current regulations announced by the trademark office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on Jan. 7, the one who has a name or brand registered will be allowed to own the trademark as long as there is no complaints within three months and the registration is used to good purpose Another feed-processing plant, which is based in southwest China's Sichuan province, has already registered Lin Dan's Chinese name successfully and its ownership of the trademark won't expire until October, 2008. "It is tough to get them back if the sports stars' names are registered, so Lin needs to take some measures to protect his economic rights and interests beforehand," said Lin's lawyer. "I have no 100% confidence, but the Zhengjiang-based manufacturer will possibly fail to hit the mark when we strike a blow against it," the lawyer added. Chinese sports stars are often fretting over their names being used, not by themselves, for trademarks or domain addresses. Li Ning, China's most famous gymnast and a sports goods businessman as well, spent a lot in buying other trademarks named after him. Liu Xuegen, father of 110-meter hurdles world record holder Liu Xiang, went to register Liu Xiang's name only for him to find it has been used. NBA star Yao Ming is another main casualty whose name was often registered maliciously by others for economic gains. One of the funniest example was that a company even registered Yao's Chinese name as a trademark for feminine napkin. Lin Dan, nicknamed Super Dan by his Chinese fans, claimed his first ever world title at the World Badminton Championships last September. He seemed never afraid of any opponent on court, but Lin just could not fight all the name piracy at one time. Short of money, the 23-year-old Olympic hopeful could only register his name in related lines of work such as badminton racket, sportswear and foods. However, this has already cost him about 120,000 yuan (15,000 US dollars). ====== end news ======
It's funny that this should come up now. Park Joo-bong, whose name, like Yang Yang's, is also on a brand of badminton equipment. A couple of stories have surfaced on Badminton Times about a lawsuit connected with the issue: article 1, article 2, article 3.
Park Joo-Bong's equipments Hi event, Sorry, I don't read, write or speak Korean. So I could read/understand the 3 articles that you have posted as links. When did Park Joo-Bong release his brand of equipments? We, in Australia, have not seen his equipments here as yet. And I would definitely like to try them. Cheers... chris@ccc
Sorry, I haven't had time to read the articles in detail. It seems that the GF Sports company began its relationship with Park in 1995. I first saw a Joobong racquet in 1999. They have an English website. I don't know how closely he works with them now so I hesitate to call it "his equipment". Their slogan "The Winner's Name" is fairly clever, though.
The JooBong racquets are manufactured in Taiwan. I have some of their racquets (pretty good) and they are looking for distributors in other countries. The JB distributor here is located in Victoria, BC.
getting free rackets and shoes doesnt make one financially well off. It may sounds alot for a young kid but lets get real, try living independently, and with a gf or a wife, and see how far free rackets and shoes will help your financial well being
just look at all the dot.com names registered and u will see the gold mine of registering names. Just look at all the celebrities that have to buy back or sue to get their dot.com name back.
Lin Dan for trademark for Badminton Products Hi westwood_13, In a way, I agree with you. Lin is a common Chinese surname. There are millions of Lin's...... and there must be thousands named Dan. So, I believe that Lin Dan can only hold on to his name for trademark for Badminton products only. Cheers... chris@ccc
i think...the annual salary of a player from the US who's never gone the second round probably makes just as much, if not more, than Lin Dan hahaha
