A 22-year fight finally won. Luxury shoe designer Manolo Blahnik announced on Tuesday that he won his case in China’s Supreme People’s Court after 22 years of litigation to use his own name in the country. Problem: in 1999, a trademark called “Manolo & Blahnik” had already been filed and approved in January 2000 in China, where a “first to file” system prevails. The British house explains that it filed a complaint the same year with the Chinese Trademark Office.
These shoes had notably gained notoriety with the general public thanks to the series “Sex and the City” whose main character, the New York columnist Carrie Bradshaw, cannot resist a pair of Manolo Blahnik, luxury shoes that can snatch more than 1,000 euros a pair. “We are humbled and grateful for the support we have received in China and internationally, both within the fashion industry and beyond,” commented Spanish designer Manolo Blahnik, Founder and Creative Director of the brand, in a press release.
Deprived of access to the gigantic Chinese market for two decades, the brand says it is “looking forward” to making up for lost time by “sharing the history, creations and passions of Manolo”, added Kristina Blahnik, CEO of the company and niece of the founder.
Other cases of usurpation concerning many Western groups
After a hearing last January before the Supreme Court, a final judgment by the latter in June finally ruled in favor of the creator and confirmed the invalidation of the first filing of the name. The company hailed in its statement the evolution of China’s trademark regime over the years. Many Western groups in China have experienced cases of usurpation, discovering when marketing their products there that their brand had already been registered there by a local firm.
In particular, the Chinese Supreme Court decided in 2016 that a local sports equipment manufacturer could no longer use the phonetic transcription in Mandarin of the last name of American basketball legend Michael Jordan, again after several years of proceedings.