ver the outcome, the dispute highlights the rising stakes of the trademark name game in the increasingly lucrative China consumer market, one that most global companies cannot afford to miss out on regardless of the risks. "China's been infringing on patents and copyrights and so on from the beginning,http://zhujibuluo.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=293156. Now, it's a globally important market and this is where a lot of companies are depending on for growth," said James McGregor, a senior counselor for consulting firm APCO Worldwide and a former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. "It's getting more attention now, and maybe some of these infringers are getting more aggressive," he said. The issue touches practically every type of product or industry. Former NBA star Michael Jordan is suing a Chinese sportswear maker, Qiaodan Sports Company Ltd., for unauthorized use of his name and images associated with his own brand, such as his old jersey number, "23". "Qiaodan," pronounced "CHEEOW-dan," is the moniker Jordan has been known by in China since he gained widespread popularity in the mid-1980s,http://www.new-kingdom.com/dzx/. "I am taking this action to preserve the ownership of my name and my brand," Jordan said in a video clip on his website. "No one should lose control of their own name." Qiaodan said in a statement that its brand has no direct relationship with Michael Jordan and professed to respect his "athletic achievements and contributions" in basketball. "I would not say Proview registered its trademarks maliciously, since it did it more than 10 years ago. But I would say that the Qiaodan company did, since Jordan was famous before the company was even founded," said Tao Xinliang,http://jialiu.gotoip1.com/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=365932, president of the Intellectual Property Institute at Shanghai University. The craze for grabbing trademarks is of course not confined to China: The recent hoopla over New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin touched off a rush in the U.S. to trademark the "Linsanity" catchphrase including a trademark application on Lin's behalf. But Chinese businesses seem to be taking an especially proactive approach,toms shoe store. A maker of basketballs, volleyballs and soccer balls in the east Chinese city of Wuxi registered the "Jeremy S.H.L,toms shoes sale." trademark for Lin's Chinese name Lin Shu-hao back in July 2010. Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information,cheap toms shoes sale, please see our Comments FAQ. An insider's guide to politics and policy, available on the iPad or as a PDF download.
By ANNA ANDERSEN, Associated Press REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) A former prime minister of Iceland on Monday rejected charges he failed to adequately protect his country's economy from financial shocks, as he took the stand in the first criminal trial of a world leader to result from the 2008 financial crisis. Geir Haarde said neither he nor financial regulators knew the real state of Icelandic banks' precarious finances until they collapsed in October 2008. "I reject all accusations and believe there is no basis for them," Haarde said. He said it was the first chance he had to answer questions in