"Ten-yuan Warrior shoes were harder to get than today's AJs!"
This seemingly playful remark is a vivid youth memory for people born in the 1970s and 1980s. Founded in 1927, Warrior was once the undisputed ace of Chinese sports shoes – when Lang Ping spiked, Zheng Haixia blocked, and the national team stood on the podium, the red checkmark on their feet wasn't Nike, but Warrior.
No one could have imagined that after 2000, when the "Guochao (national trend)" wave rose and Warrior was ready to march into Europe and America with pride, it was hit with a harsh blow by a US company:
"We own the 'WARRIOR' trademark. Want to sell shoes? Either rebrand or pay the toll!"
Overnight, this 97-year-old "national shoe" became an "unregistered entity" across the Atlantic.
Today, we uncover this buried past to offer an invaluable overseas trademark lesson to all Chinese businesses that want to build brands, are in the process of doing so, or have even expanded their products overseas.
1 Glory: One Pair of Shoes = 10 Yuan = "Half a Bicycle"
In 1980, the scene of queuing for Warrior shoes at counters on Nanjing Road in Shanghai was no less than the launch of a new Apple product today.
What was the value of 10 yuan back then? The average monthly salary of workers nationwide was 38 yuan, so a pair of Warrior shoes equated to a quarter of an ordinary person's hard-earned money.
Its product strength was even more impressive:
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Patented padded arch design for comfort without rubbing;
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Original rubber outsole, durable enough to "be passed down to the next generation";
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Canvas + 8-ply cotton thread, resistant to damage even after washing.
With these three core advantages, Warrior became the official shoe supplier for China's national basketball, volleyball, table tennis teams... At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the Chinese delegation wore nothing but the "red checkmark" on their feet.
That year, Warrior's annual output soared to 10 million pairs, with tax and profit reaching 120 million yuan – equivalent to contributing "a whole Nanjing Road" to Shanghai's finance.
2 Decline: Three Blows Knocked Down the Veteran in the 1990s
Blow 1: Channel Collapse
With the end of the planned economy, the state no longer imposed a production and sales monopoly. Warrior instantly lost its national supply and marketing cooperative network.
Blow 2: Aesthetic Disconnect
Adidas' three stripes, Nike's Air cushion, and Converse All Star entered the market one after another. Young people realized, "Can shoes be this stylish?" But Warrior still stuck to its "white canvas + red checkmark" design, unchanged for a decade.
Blow 3: Cost Inversion
Overseas brands reduced production costs by 30% with imported synthetic rubber, EVA midsoles, and air cushion patents; Warrior still used traditional full rubber, which was heavy, stiff, and expensive.
Hit by these three crises, Shanghai Rubber Shoes No. 6 Factory (the main entity of Warrior) suffered its first loss in 1996 and ceased production entirely in 2000. The old factory became a warehouse, and the "national shoe" disappeared from big cities, only to linger on county stall shelves, sold as "buy one get one free" for 19 yuan a pair.
3 Unexpected Comeback: 2008, "Legolas" Wore the Wrong Shoe but Hit the Right Note
On the set of New York, I Love You, Orlando Bloom was photographed wearing a pair of "Feiyue China" shoes. The photo went viral overseas, but foreigners confused "Feiyue" with "Warrior".
Warrior's marketing team worked overnight:
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Launched a Tmall flagship store within 24 hours;
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Revamped the classic WB-1 model into 9-color canvas versions;
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Collaborated with celebrities like Yang Mi, Kris Wu, and TFBOYS for street-style endorsements.
In 2010, Warrior's Tmall daily sales exceeded 3 million yuan; in 2015, the first "Warrior 1927" concept store opened on Huaihai Road in Shanghai, with prices ranging from 69 yuan to 699 yuan – all sold out instantly.
Overseas Chinese also snapped up the shoes, with "daigou (cross-border shopping agents)" emerging in Los Angeles, Paris, and Amsterdam.
Just as Warrior was about to announce its entry into Europe and America, its legal team presented a chilling "Trademark Opposition Letter":
"The 'WARRIOR' trademark and logo were registered in the US, EU, and UK by 'WARRIOR INC.' in 2003, 2005, and 2007 respectively. Exclusive rights for International Class 25 (clothing and footwear) belong to the company. Continued use by your company will result in customs seizure, huge compensation claims, and forced destruction."
4 Who Was the Squatter?
US-based "WARRIOR INC.": Registered in Delaware, with 3 employees, main business: trademark investment and litigation settlements.
Its modus operandi:
① Search Chinese customs export data to identify fast-growing Chinese brands with high US sales but no registered trademarks overseas;
② File for trademarks with identical/similar names or logos before the original brands;
③ Wait for Chinese enterprises to "go global", then demand exorbitant "settlement fees" ranging from 100,000 to 10 million US dollars.
Warrior was not the only victim:
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Laoganma's "LaoGanMa" was squatted by a European company, forcing it to rebrand as "LaoGanMa Limited";
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Wangzhihe's "fermented tofu" was OEM-registered by a German company, costing 800,000 euros in legal fees;
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Hisense's "HiSense" was squatted by Siemens, eventually redeemed for 4 million euros.
The CEO of WARRIOR INC. told World Trademark Review: "We are not 'extorting' – we are just'reminding' Chinese enterprises to respect the rules of the game."
