Not long ago, Luckin Coffee announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2023. According to the data, its total net revenue in the third quarter was 7.2 billion yuan, 38.8 billion yuan from the same period last year94.6 billion yuan, an increase of 849%。Net profit was 988 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 87%. By the end of the third quarter, the number of Luckin Coffee stores reached 13,273.
For Luckin, 2023 is still more than ten days away from a perfect conclusion, and a shocking news breaks the comfort
Thailand's Luckin claimed 10 billion baht, or about 2 billion yuan, from China's Luckin
The story of the two Luckin began a few years ago, when China's Luckin Coffee discovered the emergence of a Luckin Coffee store in Thailand, which is almost identical to the Chinese Luckin Coffee store, which can be said to be a pixel-level tribute.
Luckin Coffee Shop, Thailand. *Source: honglin (Little Red Book).
Almost the same Luckin Coffee sign, almost the same deer head element, almost the same blue main color, almost the same store design style, almost the same drinks, and even the drink glass is almost the same.
Thai Luckin Coffee. *From: Kim Jae-shin (Little Red Book).
Thai Luckin Coffee. *From: Kim Jae-shin (Little Red Book).
There are also different places, the left and right mirror images of the deer element modify some details, Chinese has become Thai, but ordinary people are difficult to recognize. At that time, some Thai consumers even released Xiaohongshu, happy that China's Luckin Coffee stores had expanded to Thailand.
Thai Luckin Coffee. *From: Kim Jae-shin (Little Red Book).
In this regard, China's Luckin Coffee issued an official statement on August 9, 2022: Luckin Coffee has no ...... to open a store in ThailandThe Luckin store in Thailand is a counterfeit store ......The relevant departments of Luckin have adopted legal means to protect their rights, please pay attention to the identification of friends living in Thailand, beware of being deceived!」
In recent years, China's Luckin has filed a lawsuit in Thailand against the Royal Thai 50R Group, the company behind Luckin Thailand.
According to the content released by Thailand Headline Weibo, on December 1 this yearThe announcement of the Intellectual Property and International Court of Justice of Thailand announced the final judgment in the case of trademark and copyright infringement brought by China Luckin Coffee Company against Royal Thai 50R Group - the judgment against China Luckin Coffee Companyto execute immediately.
On December 19th,The Royal 50R Group of Thailand formally filed a lawsuit with the court, asking the court to order China Luckin Coffee to compensate 10 billion baht (about 2 billion yuan) in economic lossesThe case has been filed and accepted by the relevant courts in Thailand.
Left: China Luckin. Right: Thailand Luckin.
Where did the Royal Thai 50R Group come from?
According to public information, Royal Thai 50R Group is a local Thai enterprise engaged in retail, new energy, tourism, real estate, catering and other diversified operation and management, with the background of the Thai royal family and military.
So how was the compensation amount of 10 billion baht calculated?
According to the contents of the Royal Thai 50R Group's indictment, there are three claims for financial compensation:
The defendants have seriously damaged the business reputation of the 50R Group. As a well-known enterprise in Thailand, the trademark it holds is well known to the Thai people. According to the plaintiffs, the company had planned to expand to more than 10,000 coffee shops worldwide in a short period of time and prepare to list on the Thai ** exchange. The defendant's illegal acts led to the interruption of the plaintiff's plan, causing it to suffer serious financial losses. Therefore, 9,000,000,000,000 baht is claimed. Detailed evidence and factual information will be presented to the Tribunal at the next interrogation hearing. Before the court made a final judgment on the case, China Luckin Coffee authorized the client to arrogantly and illegally seize the property in the coffee shop of 50R Group without permission, causing it to suffer serious humiliation and losses. 995,000,000 baht is sought. As a result of the illegal allegations of China Luckin, 50R Group had to pay for the costs of defending its case by hiring professional lawyers and legal counsel to defend its case, and to seek compensation of 5,000,000 baht for the costs incurred. In this regard, China's Luckin responded that night to the question of being claimed 10 billion baht by Thailand's fake Rui, and the situation has yet to be verified. I couldn't read it, but I was blown away.
Regarding the loss of China's Luckin lawsuit, the people who eat melons feel that Tai is outrageous, and the industry and legal circles feel that it can be used as a reference, which isA typical case of Chinese enterprises going overseas and brand trademark protection
In the overwhelming ** coverage, there is one piece of information that has been overlooked,China Luckin has won the case
According to a number of ** reports, China's Luckin Coffee Company sued a number of defendants in Thailand in 2021 for trademark squatting, demanding the cancellation of its trademark registration and requiring relevant parties to stop using the above-mentioned trademarks. On November 24, 2022, the Thai court issued a first-instance judgment in favor of China Luckin Coffee Company, and requested the cancellation of the relevant trademark registration and ordered the two defendants to stop using the trademark.On March 24, 2023, the Royal Thai 50R Group filed an appeal, and on November 30, 2023, it was again **, and on December 1, the news came that Luckin lost the lawsuit, followed by the news that the Royal Thai 50R Group appealed to China Luckin for 10 billion baht.
Thailand Luckin packaging bags are highly similar to Chinese Luckin packaging bags. *From: 忞忞 in Bangkok (Little Red Book).
Why does Thai Luckin have the confidence to countersue?
Royal Thai 50R Group said it had legally registered the Luckin trademark in Thailand in 2020 and could conduct coffee shop marketing business for beverages such as tea and coffee。Some lawyers said that this should be the main reason why China Luckin lost the lawsuit.
And when was the first time that China's Luckin Coffee stores went overseas?
In March 2023, the first stop of China's Luckin overseas is Singapore, about 3 years after the Royal Thai 50R Group registered the Luckin trademark in Thailand.
China's Luckin goes to Singapore. *From: Luckincoffee (Weibo).
Xu Yanxuan, a lawyer at Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, said in an interview with Time Weekly that there is a great risk for China Luckin to open a store in Thailand, and if it is not registered in the country (Thailand) or does not apply for registration through the Madrid trademark agreement, it may not be protected in the country where it is located. However, whether it necessarily constitutes infringement depends on the specific local laws and regulations.
According to a previous report by Red Star News, Manager Tian of the Legal Department of Wenhua Law Firm in Thailand saidIf China Luckin appeals to the Intermediate Court of Thailand, proving that China Luckin used the brand earlier and was more influential around the world, then the court may reconsider the previous decision
The trademark protection Waterloo encountered by China's Luckin in Thailand may cast a shadow on its future overseas business. Today, when Chinese brands collectively go overseas, China Luckin is not the only one that has to face the shadow of brand protection.
There are also Swiss-style distresses and pleasant colors.
In 2018, some students who went to South Korea found that a Korean company had preemptively registered the trademark of Chayan Yuese and opened a store, and the official Weibo of Chayan Yuese said that it had been informed that the other party's behavior was legal and we had no right to interfere. We're sorry that we didn't ...... enough in protecting our trademarks」
Korean tea is pleasant. *From: Wednesday (Little Red Book).
Singapore, the first stop of China's Luckin Ventures to go overseas, is one of the popular places for preemptively registering Chinese brand trademarks, and Chinese trademarks such as Xibei Noodle Village and Huangshanghuang have been preemptively registered by professional squatters.
Wang Zhihe has been widely registered trademarks in overseas markets since the 1980s, but when he entered the German market, he found that the trademark had been preemptively registered by the German company EuroKera, which surprisingly used to be Wang's German distributor. The company also preemptively registered the names of many well-known Chinese enterprises as trademarks, such as Lao Gan Ma, Cha and Shaolin Temple.
Chef Bao, who made pastries, encountered direct infringement.
In December this year, a Chef Bao in London sparked a discussion because it was not very tasty, and finally everyone found out that this Chef Bao was a copycat, and Chef Bao said: We have registered the trademark of Chef Bao overseas before. The evidence of the infringement of the copycat version of 'Master Bao' in London, England is very clear. At present, the forensics has been basically completed. Master Bao will take up the law to protect his rights and interests in a legal way and protect the interests of consumers.
Master Bao from London, EnglandFrom: Gangan