Nike is fighting another battle against Chinese authorities. The U.S. company is one of the sponsors of Liu Xiang, the first Chinese to have won an Olympic gold medal in men's track & field competitions in 2004 as 110-meter hurdler, and a national sports hero. According to The Wall Street Journal, Nike does have the right to use the face of the athlete and his name for advertising purposes in Latin letters - but not in the Chinese script. The local authorities rejected Nike's request to be allowed to use the Mandarin way of writing Liu's name, arguing that the rights have been since 1986 with a Chinese manufacturer of garments, Shanghai Liuxiang Industrial. Now, Nike has decided to make a legal matter out of it and has taken the office in charge of it to court. A first hearing was already held without any results. The case of Liu Xiang is the latest of its type that led Western companies to believe that Chinese authorities tend to decide in favor of domestic companies and to the detriment of foreign entities. Other recent alleged victims have been Apple's iPad and Jordan, another brand of Nike's.

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