The British stylist Manolo Blahnik obtained the right to use his name in China, ending an expensive 22 -year legal battle lasting. The Financial Timesexplaining that with a rare sentence, the highest Chinese court canceled a brand that incorporated the name Manolo Blahnik, owned by Chinese businessman Fang Yuzhou thus paving the road to the authentic brand.
The decision will allow Blahnik – who started his business in London in 1971 and became famous in the early 2000s thanks to the television series Sex and the City – to sell its brand for the most quick growth in the world for the first time. “It was a huge hole in our existence,” he commented on the Financial Times, Kristina Blahnik, CEO of Manolo Blahnik and grandson of the founder. “When we received the call … we poured real tears.”
China has a “First to file” brands, which has made many foreign companies vulnerable to “pirates” trying to sell the brands when they enter the country. The theft of intellectual property has long been a source of tension between Beijing and its commercial partners, in particular the United States. In November 2019, amendments were implemented in China aimed at strengthening brands legislation and in recent years a greater number of foreign companies has won disputes in the Chinese courts.
There are numerous cases of this kind. For example, last year, the US Sportswear brand New Balance won a cause against two local companies for imitating its “N” logo and received compensation of 25 million RMB, one of the major compensation granted to the brands foreigners in the battles in court on the brands. The former NBA Superstar Michael Jordan managed to prevent Chinese producer of sportswear Qiaodan Sports from using his brands after a cause that lasted nine years and ended at the end of 2020. Jordan claimed that Qiaodan, who is the literal translation In Chinese of his name, he had violated his rights. Other luxury brands, including the Italian Men’s Clothing Group Zegna and the British brand Dunhill, also won causes for violation of brand in China. But there were not only victories.
In 2012 the French group of luxury Hermes lost a battle in court to prevent a Chinese male clothing company from using but shi – Chinese translation of Hermes – on its products. Hermes’ lawyers had tried to invalidate the brand since 1997. Returning to Manolo Blahnik, now the company has made it known that its plans for the Chinese market are still in the initial phase, but hopes to start selling directly in China by second half of next year. “We will not run with a rocket in China, but we will walk gently,” he said.
The sentence will allow Blahnik and its partners retailers to start selling in China without fear of legal retaliation and to fight the counterfeits sold and exported from the country. However, it will be for him to face the hard competition of brands like Louis Vuitton. Manolo Blahnik recorded a turnover of 42.3 million euros in 2020 – the most recent accounts – with a 7% drop compared to the previous year due to the Pandemia di Coronavirus. Although the company did not sell directly in China, Chinese luxury consumers has courted through shops in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei and Seoul.