Chinese firms use Bruce Lee name without family approval

Chinese firms and individuals are using martial arts legend Bruce Lee’s name and image without his family’s authorisation to sell everything from noodles to toothbrushes, state media said yesterday.

A team put together by the star’s daughter Sharon has done a nationwide search and discovered his Chinese name – Li Xiaolong – has been registered as a trademark for several products, the official China Daily reported.

She was quoted as saying that Chinese companies and individuals had also used the image of the Enter the Dragon star, who died of brain swelling at the peak of his film career in 1973 aged just 32. A report in the Southern Daily newspaper said she had held talks with officials in Shunde in the southern province of Guangdong, the martial arts star’s ancestral home.

The city has already built Li Xiaolong Paradise, a giant memorial hall devoted to Bruce Lee’s life, martial arts and acting career.

The report said his daughter was looking for the local government to hand the trademark back to the family and the Bruce Lee Foundation, which seeks to preserve the actor’s legacy.

According to the China Daily, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce – which is in charge of protecting trademarks – recently made it clear that Lee’s Chinese and English names belonged to his heirs.

The agency ruled that other applications to use the name currently being processed would be rejected, the report said.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) are widely flouted in China, which is home to the biggest counterfeit and piracy market in the world.

The nation’s State Council, or Cabinet, announced last month that it would launch a six-month crackdown on IPR infringement, which it said “upset the market’s normal order... and hurt China’s image abroad”.