Late last week, the Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court found in favour of Louis Vuitton in a publicly controversial trade mark dispute against Shenzhen tea company Molly Tea. The issue heard at trial was that Molly Tea had infringed upon Louis Vuitton’s “Monogram Flower” by using an identical flower logo in stores, advertising, and promotional materials. Louis Vuitton enjoyed an award of damages and costs amounting to a global sum of 10.3 million yuan, which converts to approximately £1.137 million in GBP. Molly Tea was also ordered to issue a public apology and to cease all use of its identical sign.
However, as cut-and-dry as the matter appeared before the court, the claim has sparked widespread debate amongst the Chinese population in respect of the origins of Louis Vuitton’s and indeed the wider Western luxury brand industry’s uses of similar logos that have been inspired by historic Chinese art and designs. For instance, some social media users argue that Western brands often appropriate Chinese cultural images and logos for their own uses. Others state that Louis Vuitton was merely enforcing its rights, and that the flower logo immediately brought Louis Vuitton and its brand to mind.
This case also ran parallel with the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopting new trade mark law reform in order to bolster protections for rightsholders in respect of trade mark applications being filed in bad faith. The law is set to take effect on 1 January 2027, and will introduce several ways for the China National Intellectual Property Administration to intervene with bad faith marks directly rather than on the direction of a third-party.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own Intellectual Property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
