Thailand's Luckin Coffee has filed a claim against China's Luckin Coffee, demanding a huge amount of 2 billion yuan in compensation. Behind this case is a trademark infringement dispute. Thailand Luckin uses the same trademark as China's Luckin Coffee, and there is no difference in appearance, color and name. China's Luckin Coffee filed a lawsuit in Thailand and won the first instance, but lost the second instance. Thailand's Luckin took the opportunity to fight back and demanded 2 billion yuan in compensation to China's Luckin Coffee. This reversal is surprising, but it also raises questions about trademark protection.
According to the registration information, the parent company of Thai Luckin is the Royal 50R Group. Although there is in the name"Royal"But the Thai royal family and military have made it clear that they have nothing to do with the group. It is worth mentioning that the revenue of the Royal 50R Group in recent years has been zero. In addition, the group is also a Sino-Thai joint venture that has registered trademarks for other well-known brands in Thailand. This information has led to speculation that the conglomerate may be a fictitious company that is profiting by preemptively registering trademarks identical to well-known Chinese companies.
Why have Southeast Asian countries become a high incidence of preemptive registration of Chinese trademarks?First of all, Southeast Asia has close ties with China's economy, and well-known Chinese brands have a strong local influence, but they do not have registered trademarks locally. This provides an opportunity for local companies to preemptively register Chinese trademarks. Secondly, in recent years, the rapid economic development of Southeast Asian countries, high market activity, and the improvement of consumption levels, Chinese enterprises have begun to set foot in the Southeast Asian market. This further stimulates the desire for trademark squatting. Thirdly, the low cost of registering trademarks in Southeast Asian countries and the absence of trademark cooperation agreements with China provide a legal basis for preemptively registering trademarks.
As more and more enterprises go overseas, overseas trademark protection has become a hot topic. There are three common ways to register a trademark overseas: a single country registration, a regional trademark registration, and a Madrid international trademark registration. When choosing a registration method, enterprises need to pay attention to understanding the laws and regulations of the corresponding country and expand the scope of trademark registration to prevent the occurrence of trademark infringement.
The issue of trademark infringement is a significant legal challenge worldwide. The case of Thailand's Luckin claim of RMB 2 billion described in this article shows that there are still many problems in global trademark protection. Thailand's Luckin Coffee has launched a claim by preemptively registering the trademark of China's Luckin Coffee, revealing the trademark protection dilemma faced by Chinese companies in the Southeast Asian market.
For Chinese enterprises, it is necessary not only to pay attention to product and market docking, but also to pay attention to trademark protection. When deploying in overseas markets, enterprises must understand the trademark laws of the target country in advance and register trademarks in time to avoid trademark infringement disputes. In addition, enterprises should also strengthen the cultivation of brand publicity and intellectual property protection awareness, and increase the importance of employees to trademark protection.
Trademark protection is a necessary way for enterprises to enter the international arena, and the lack of attention to trademark protection will bring immeasurable losses to the overseas strategy of enterprises. Therefore, enterprises should strengthen the layout and protection of overseas trademarks to ensure that their trademark rights and interests are fully protected by law.