Nike awarded 350,000 yuan in damages for Air Jordan logo copyright infringement in China

SHANGHAI, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. sportswear giant Nike has won lawsuits against two Chinese shoemakers and a Shanghai-based French supermarket over copyright infringement of its Air Jordan logos.

The Shanghai No.2 Intermediate Court ordered the supermarket and the shoemakers to pay damages totaling 350,000 yuan (about 46,000 U.S. dollars).

The court heard that Nike employees succeeded in buying four pairs of sports shoes bearing logos identical to its copyrighted Air Jordan Logo of former NBA star Michael Jordan slam-dunking a basketball in three outlets of Auchan in Shanghai.

The shoes were manufactured by Jinjiang Longzhibu Shoes Company and Jinjiang Kangwei Shoes Company in east China's Fujian Province.

In February, Nike sent letters through its lawyer ordering Auchan to cease sales, but the shoes remained on the shelves.

Nike later sued the supermarket and shoemakers in two separate cases in May, demanding them to cease manufacturing and selling the shoes, apologize, and pay one million yuan (about 131,000 dollars) in compensation.

The court ruled that the two shoemakers illegally copied Nike'sregistered trademarks and the Auchan supermarket had also infringed upon Nike's rights by selling the counterfeits.

Jinjiang Longzhibu Shoes Company was ordered to pay 100,000 yuan (about 13,000 dollars), Jinjiang Kangwei Shoes Company 90,000 yuan (about 11,800 dollars) and Auchan 160,000 yuan (about 21,000 dollars).

Last month, German sportswear maker Puma AG Rudolf Dassler Sport won a similar lawsuit against a supermarket in Shanghai which sold fake Puma athletics shoes.