Court proceedings begin in Bruce Lee logo dispute
A logo is seen at a Zhengongfu outlet in Shanghai on Thursday.
Another logo at the Zhengongfu outlet
The Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court began proceedings on disputes over the portraiture rights of famed kung fu star Bruce Lee on Thursday, the court said.
Shannon Lee, daughter of Bruce Lee and owner of the United States-based Bruce Lee Enterprises, sued the Guangzhou-based fast food restaurant chain Zhengongfu, or Kungfu, in December 2019. She alleged that the restaurant has been using her father's image as its logo without authorization.
The company is demanding 210 million yuan (US$30.6 million) in compensation and requires that the restaurant chain should stop using Bruce Lee's image and announce in the media for 90 consecutive days that it has nothing to do with the star.
Bruce Lee Enterprises said it has rights and interests related to Bruce Lee and has registered nearly 60 related trademarks on the Chinese mainland.
But Zhengongfu countered that its trademark is registered and authorized by the Trademark Office of the China National Intellectual Property Administration.
The restaurant chain was founded in 1990. It changed its name from "Seed Double Food" to "Zhengongfu" and opened the first outlet with the controversial logo in 2004.
The logo alleged to be of Bruce Lee's well-known gesture is seen at a Zhengongfu outlet at the site of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.
It redesigned the logo in 2016 from concrete to abstract. Pan Yuhai, founder and president of Zhengongfu, told Beijing Times then that the change was for the company's rejuvenation.
But the original logo is still used on the official website of the restaurant.
Zhengongfu said on its website that by 2030, its total number of stores around the world will reach 20,000, with annual operating income exceeding 150 billion yuan.
Shannon Lee gradually bought back the ownership of her father's films and trademarks in the US in 2010, it was previously reported. In China, she established an office to protect the copyrights of her father's image.
The case is under further investigation, the court said.
