Usain Bolt team: 'True Hero' trademark is a non-starter_美文

Usain Bolt team: 'True Hero' trademark is a non-starter

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The fastest man on earth Usain Bolt is a hero in the world of sports, but he is not happy as that status has been turned into a formal trademark by a Chinese company.

The True Hero trademark registered by Liaoning Renxin Trade Co includes a graphic allegedly based on the Jamaican sprinter's image and uses his iconic celebration gesture of stretching his arm to the sky as if he's about to shoot an arrow.

Specializing in clothes wholesaling and auto maintenance, Renxin applied for its new trademark True Hero with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce in 2010 on clothes, running shoes and sports equipment.

The administration rejected the application on clothes because another company had already applied for the same name in that category, but the application for shoes was approved in 2011.

It was the application for sports equipment that caught the attention of Bolt's team when the trademark was under review at the end of last year. A Beijing-based trademark agency was commissioned to file an objection with the trademark office of the SAIC.

Bolt's attorneys noted that the trademark is a combination of the Chinese characters for "true hero" and a likeness of Bolt without his authorization. The image's dark skin, iconic victory gesture and yellow jersey like the one Bolt wore in the London Olympic Games are all "indications that the portrait is Bolt", they said.