Usain Bolt objects to True Hero trademark
August 27, 2012 Category IPR protection, Weekly
The True Hero trademark registered by Liaoning Renxin Trade Co includes a graphic allegedly based on an image of Usain Bolt – the world’s fastest runner – and uses his iconic celebration gesture of stretching his arm to the sky as if he is about to shoot an arrow. Specializing in clothes wholesaling and auto maintenance, Renxin applied for its new trademark True Hero with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) in 2010 on clothes, running shoes and sports equipment. The administration rejected the application on clothes because another company had already applied for the same name in that category, but the application for shoes was approved in 2011. Bolt’s team instructed a Beijing-based trademark agency to file an objection with the trademark office against the trademark application on sports equipment. Using celebrity names as trademarks “seems unreasonable but applications always get approved”, said Zhao Zhanling, a lawyer and researcher at China University of Social Science and Law. “According to the trademark law, whoever applies for a trademark first is likely to have it and the law allows using people’s names as trademarks,” he explained. Celebrities can file objections during the three-month trademark review period and can also later file to revoke trademarks.
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