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There is new news about the China-Thailand Red Bull trademark dispute.

On July 30, Huabin Group released a statement on its official WeChat public account regarding the court's dismissal of all claims of Thai Tianshi against Chinese Red Bull's partners for trademark infringement, stating that in 2021, Thai Tianshi initiated a lawsuit against Changsha Huaxia Sugar and Wine Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huaxia Sugar and Wine Company"), a partner in the Chinese Red Bull industry chain. On July 29, 2024, the civil judgment of the Changsha Intermediate People's Court of Hunan Province ruled on the case and dismissed all claims of Thai Tianshi.

In response to this, Tianshi Group also issued a statement in the morning of July 31, saying that the first-instance judgment made by the Changsha Intermediate People's Court of Hunan Province on this case has not yet taken effect and is not enforceable. Tianshi Group will appeal in accordance with the law to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. At the same time, in response to the suspected procedural violations and other illegal acts in this case, Tianshi Group will report and feedback to the relevant departments in accordance with the law based on the clues it has. Tianshi Group also emphasized that "Huabin Red Bull" is still prohibited from sale.

Huabin said that Tiansi's lawsuit against Huaxia Sugar and Wine Company was rejected

Tencel responded: The first-instance judgment has not yet come into effect and is not enforceable

It is understood that Huaxia Sugar and Wine Company was founded in 1992 and is one of the earliest fast-moving consumer goods operators in Changsha. It not only has a large number of distribution partners who have cooperated for many years, but also sells its products to large supermarkets, convenience stores and other chain systems in many places in Hunan. Since 2003, Huaxia Sugar and Wine Company has reached a cooperation with Reignwood Group and is one of Reignwood Group's major merchants.

In June 2021, a self-media article titled "Changsha Intermediate People's Court issues a sales ban! Red Bull sales without Tianshi Company authorization are stopped" circulated on the Internet. The article stated that the Changsha Intermediate People's Court issued a civil ruling to Huaxia Tangjiu Company, a distributor of China Red Bull, to ban the sale of China Red Bull. Subsequently, Huabin Group issued a "letter to the public" to support Huaxia Tangjiu and pointed out that the information of the ruling was leaked in advance.

The statement released by Huabin mentioned that in the judgment, the Changsha Intermediate People's Court determined that: According to the Civil Ruling No. (2021) Supreme People's Court Civil Application No. 1162 made by the Supreme People's Court on August 31, 2023, the Supreme People's Court believed that the "95-year Joint Venture Contract" submitted by Red Bull and the 50-year "Agreement" submitted in the original during the retrial review stage belonged to the trademark registrant licensing the trademark to others for exclusive use. After the trademark is exclusively licensed, the trademark registrant itself shall not violate the license contract to use the registered trademark. Under the exclusive licensing model, the trademark registrant only grants others the right to use the trademark within a certain time and space, limiting its own right of use.

Huabin said in a statement that the Changsha Intermediate Court held that "Tianshi Company currently has no sufficient and effective evidence to prove that Red Bull Company has infringed Tianshi Company's trademark rights, so its claim that Red Bull Company's subordinate distributor Tangjiu Company has infringed its trademark rights in this case is insufficient and this court does not support it."

In response, Tencel Group also issued a statement on its official WeChat public account, saying that the first-instance judgment made by the Changsha Intermediate People's Court of Hunan Province in this case has not yet taken effect and is not enforceable, and Tencel Group will appeal in accordance with the law to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. At the same time, in response to the suspected procedural violations and other illegal acts in this case, Tencel Group will report and provide feedback to relevant departments in accordance with the law based on the clues it has.

Tianshi Group further explained that the company sued Huaxia Sugar and Wine Company and applied for behavioral preservation in May 2021. The Changsha Intermediate People's Court made a behavioral preservation ruling that month, requiring Huaxia Sugar and Wine Company to immediately stop selling infringing Red Bull products until the effective judgment of this case is executed. On June 15, 2021, Huaxia Sugar and Wine Company was dissatisfied with the preservation ruling and filed a reconsideration with the Changsha Intermediate People's Court. On June 12, 2023, the Changsha Intermediate People's Court rejected its reconsideration application in accordance with the law. At present, the behavioral preservation is still in effect, and Huaxia Sugar and Wine Company is still prohibited from selling "Red Bull Vitamin Functional Drinks".

Trademark dispute extends to channel level

China-Thailand Red Bull still has many lawsuits going on

Since 2016, the Reignwood Group and Thai Tianshi have been involved in multiple rounds of litigation over the ownership and authorization of the Red Bull trademark. The litigation is still ongoing and has extended to the product and market levels.

From the perspective of trademark disputes, on December 21, 2020, the Supreme People's Court clearly stated that Thai Tianshi was the owner of the Red Bull series of trademarks. However, the Reignwood Group disagreed with this judgment and subsequently submitted the original "50-year Agreement" to the court. Since then, whether the authorization of the "Red Bull" trademark is for 20 years or 50 years has become the focus of the struggle between Reignwood and Tianshi.

In July 2023, the Fourth Intermediate People's Court of Beijing ruled to dismiss all the claims of Huabin Group regarding the "50-year agreement". After that, Huabin Group, dissatisfied with the first-instance ruling, still appealed to the Beijing High Court, requesting the revocation of the original civil ruling of dismissing the lawsuit. The latest news is that in December 2023, the Beijing High Court revoked the above-mentioned first-instance ruling and the case continued to be heard.

At the channel and distributor level, in addition to the Huaxia Sugar and Wine Company mentioned above, Tianshi Group also sued other distribution channels of Huabin. In June 2023, the Intermediate People's Court of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, made a first-instance judgment on the case in which Tianshi Pharmaceutical Health Care Co., Ltd. sued Metro Commercial Group Co., Ltd. Nanjing Yuhua Shopping Mall and Metro Commercial Group Co., Ltd. for trademark infringement: Metro Commercial Group Co., Ltd.'s sales of "Red Bull Vitamin Functional Drink" constituted trademark infringement, and it was required to immediately stop sales and compensate Tianshi Company 300,000 yuan.

In response, Huabin said that the relevant judgment was the result of the first instance and did not represent the final judgment. At the same time, it believed that Tianshi Group had no right to operate Red Bull beverages in China, and it had neither the right nor the necessity to use the Red Bull trademark in China.

Tianshi Group also made no concessions, saying that since 2021, the Zhejiang High Court, Jilin High Court, Heilongjiang High Court and courts in many places across the country have made first-instance judgments against the infringements of the HNA Group and its upstream and downstream affiliates, and unanimously determined that the relevant defendants infringed Tianshi Group's exclusive right to the Red Bull trademark. At the same time, a judgment has come into effect, and the cumulative amount of compensation has reached nearly 600 million yuan.

Written by: Nandu Wancaishe reporter Wang Jingjuan