Lianxianglou Company does not have a license to use the Lianxianglou trademark, and it is not necessarily Lianxianglou Company that has a license to use the Lianxianglou trademark. Recently, "Yangcheng Evening News" has continuously reported that the "Lianxianglou trademark dispute" has attracted the attention of all parties. On December 14, both sides of the dispute responded to the Yangcheng Evening News reporter, expressing their views and demands.
Guangzhou time-honored company:
The trademark authorization method is ordinary authorization, which is clear and non-controversial.
On December 14, the relevant person in charge of Guangzhou Time-honored Brand Investment Holding Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Time-honored Brand Company") responded to the "Lianxianglou Trademark Dispute", saying that it is the common responsibility of the time-honored brand company and the Lianxianglou Company to maintain the honorary title of "China Time-honored Brand". The time-honored brand company is willing to continue to maintain communication with Lianxianglou Company with a frank, open, cooperative and win-win attitude in line with the purpose of being responsible for history, culture and brand, and go all out to promote the successful completion of the review of China's time-honored brand and retain the good memories of the public of the "Lianxianglou" brand.
According to the time-honored company, the ownership of the "Lianxianglou" trademark belongs to the Guangzhou time-honored company. Guangzhou Lianxianglou (hereinafter referred to as "Lianxianglou Company") was originally a state-owned enterprise, Guangzhou Xiguan Shijia Garden Restaurant (hereinafter referred to as "Xiguan Shijia") became the controlling shareholder of Lianxianglou Company in 2006 through the transfer of state-owned equity, and according to the "Equity Transaction Contract" signed at that time, Xiguan Shijia used the time-honored brand and trademark of Lianxianglou Company after the transfer of equity and paid royalties. However, due to the dispute between the two parties over the way of trademark authorization, Lianxianglou Company has not signed a trademark and time-honored brand license contract with the time-honored company, and the two parties have been in communication on the signing of the contract.
Lianxiang Lou's trademark authorization method is ordinary authorization, which is clear and undisputed. The person in charge reiterated that in October 2023, the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court issued the second-instance civil judgments (2021) Yue 73 Min Zhong No. 6087 and (2021) Yue 73 Min Zhong No. 7017, confirming that the nature of the trademark license between Lianxianglou Company and the trademark owner of "Lianxianglou" is an ordinary license, not an exclusive license or an exclusive license.
The person in charge said that in order to straighten out the relationship between the trademark owner and the operator, further standardize the management of the "Lianxianglou" trademark and brand, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of both parties, the time-honored company and the Lianxianglou company should sign the trademark authorization legal document as soon as possible in accordance with the court judgment and the law, so as to fully clarify the rights and responsibilities of both parties, the licensing method, the scope of the license, the licensing time, the licensing fee, the ownership of intellectual property rights and other key matters, and jointly fulfill the mission and responsibility of protecting the time-honored brand.
The above-mentioned person in charge told reporters that the time-honored brand company has always attached great importance to the management of authorized operators, and in recent years, it has effectively revitalized and incubated a number of time-honored brands, and has achieved good market response. He further said that the time-honored brand company fully supports the authorized operator to develop the market through multiple channels under the premise of legal compliance and mutual recognition of both parties, guides the authorized party to standardize the use of brands and trademarks, avoids product homogenization and vicious competition, brings high-quality goods and services to the public, steadily enhances brand value, and helps time-honored brands rejuvenate.
Chen Zeyun) Lianxiang Building Company:
The parties concerned did not agree to issue a trademark authorization letter as previously practiced.
In response to the trademark dispute of Lianxianglou, on December 14, the relevant person in charge of Guangzhou Lianxianglou***hereinafter referred to as "Lianxianglou Company") responded that due to the lack of trademark authorization, the company will not be able to participate in the first 2023 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Time-honored Brand (Culture) Expo.
He Jingyu, the relevant person in charge of Lianxianglou Company, introduced that after being named and rectified by the Ministry of Commerce and other departments, he only received a notice of a meeting of the time-honored company. Since the other party insisted on the position of "general license", the two sides did not meet and negotiate. According to reports, the main person in charge of Liwan District and the person in charge of multiple departments held a meeting with the relevant person in charge of Lianxianglou Company on the 14th to negotiate, and said that they would try their best to coordinate the two sides to solve a series of problems caused by trademark authorization.
The 2023 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Time-honored Brand (Culture) Expo, jointly organized by the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, Shenzhen** and Hong Kong and Macao** Investment Promotion Departments, will be held at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center from December 16 to 18, and will be the first cross-regional time-honored brand event held in South China, with more than 300 enterprises participating in the event. Lianxianglou, a century-old brand, will be absent from this event, having previously tried to register, but could not successfully register because the company lacked trademark licensing. He Jingyu said.
The Yangcheng Evening News reporter then logged in to the official ** of the expo, and did not find "Lianxiang Building" in the list of time-honored brand displays.
He Jingyu also mentioned that in fact, the current operation of Lianxianglou Company is difficult to expand. In 2020, due to the large backlog of goods, it is urgent to open an e-commerce platform to destock, and at the same time, the dishes of Lianxianglou Company's catering also need to be sold online through takeaway and other forms. However, the relevant parties did not agree to issue a trademark authorization letter without a clear scope of use and authority according to the previous practice, indicating that its authority refers to the trademark authorization letter that can be issued with ordinary authorization and limited scope of use, and the scope of license is limited to the restaurants, production sites and sales stores operated by Lianxianglou Company at the time of the equity transfer in September 2006, and the brand use fee needs to be paid separately for sales on e-commerce platforms.
This means that in the era of e-commerce, it is extremely difficult for Lianxianglou to expand. He Jingyu said that according to the requirements of the other party, it means that in addition to the annual trademark usage fee, it is necessary to pay a large amount of additional fees, and it is extremely difficult for enterprises to bear the burden of facing the situation that the other party's repeated authorization leads to the emergence of competitors with the same name in the market. (Li Chunwei).