The Supreme People’s Court (the highest court in the mainland area of China) issued a document stating that names of famous people cannot be used as trade marks. The document went on to state that if a trade mark brings to mind the name of a famous person then that trade mark will also not be permitted.
The new guidance comes after the Chinese ruling in the Michael Jordan trade mark dispute against Chinese sportswear company Qiaodan that were found to have illegally used his name for commercial gain.
Source: http://buff.ly/2jGRMzc
