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 foundered.
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.
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