don't know if this has been posted yet... from chinadaily.com (got it from rockets.com) Yao Ming case to go to court ( 2003-10-09 10:12) (Agencies) The lawsuit filed by the NBA star, Yao Ming, against the Coca-Cola Company is to go to trial later this month after out-of-court negotiations floundered. Yao's attorney, Wang Xiaopeng, said that a settlement plan had been presented in August by Coca-Cola in which it had apologised for what had happened but had refused to admit any wrongdoing. Wang added that Coca-Cola's settlement plan had not met Yao's demands. Yao, who plays for US NBA team the Houston Rockets, accused Coca-Cola in May of using his image without permission and demanded that his image be removed from their products. He also demanded an apology and token damages of 12 cents. Coke maintained it had the right to use the image as part of a sponsorship deal which it had signed with the Chinese national team. Yao himself had signed a personal sponsorship deal with PepsiCo. ----------------------------------------- gotta say, i laughed at that 12 cents thing. yao's such a classy guy. you know most anyone else on this team (or in this league, or in this country) would've sued for everything and the kitchen sink. yao just wants an apology and a grand whopping total of 12 cents. wonder if that covers court costs... dunno if this is taking place in china or here...anyone know any details?
isn't there a law that says if you sue, you have to sue for at least a certain amount of money? Maybe he meant 12 cents per can/bottle that was sold while this happened?
yeah, not sure, but i think it might be in china... maybe they cap lawsuit damage rewards out there. i know 12 cents can buy you a nice little dinner...or a nice pair of fake reeboks (ok, maybe only the left shoe). actually, it's a yuan and a half.
maybe because the infringement was in china and coke's base of operations there that made the decision...?
Man I would be laughing with my mouth stretched to the back of my head if things are that cheap in China. In major cities it costs from 500 to 1000 dollars for 11 square feet of ordinary and new housing space, and a MacDonald value meal is about 2.5 dollars, a can of Coke about 30 cents. One yuan can get you a bus ride on the cheapest class of buses - old, worn and no air conditioning. Just to give you an idea so you won't be shocked if someday you visit China.
Yao was just trying to make a point. When he first mentioned the issue and a possibilty to sue, a lot of people accused him of greediness. After he anounced the 1 yuan suit, all that died down.
