On February 25, Comrade Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Wahaha Group, passed away due to illness at the age of 79.
As the founder of Wahaha Group, Zong Qinghou is not only the soul of the company, but also one of the iconic figures of private entrepreneurs.
The high sails hang obliquely in the sunset, and the oars do not hear the sound of people. This poem describing the spirit of hard work of Zhejiang businessmen is also a portrayal of Zong Qinghou's life. Wahaha mineral water, AD calcium milk, nutrition express These national hits that are popular all over the country have been the childhood memories of generations after generations.
In the first decade of the last century, the domestic health care products market was in full swing. After Zong Qing, who was in business, he locked this track.
In 1990, Wahaha's sales revenue exceeded 100 million yuan, and its profit exceeded 20 million yuan. In this year, Zong Qinghou officially registered the "Wahaha" trademark. At the same time, Zong Qinghou was quite forward-looking in the registration of defensive trademarks such as "Ha Doll", "Wahaha" and "Doll Ha", which were formedA relatively complete domestic trademark defense system. Zong Qinghou has applied for the registration of trademarks since the beginning of his business, and has applied for 1,146 trademark names so far, mainly in the categories of beverages, food, convenience foods, etc., "Wahaha" and "Wahaha" are well-known trademarks in China.
In the process of Wahaha's entrepreneurship, there were many turmoil. Looking back on the development process of Wahaha, the "Dawa dispute" that has lasted for several years is a major event that cannot be avoided. The two major food giants in China and France have turned from friends to enemies, and some commentators have called it "the biggest international business war in the 30 years of reform and opening up".
Some people say, what is the most correct decision in Zong Qinghou's life?
It was in the process of his joint venture with Danone of FranceDo everything possible to keep Wahaha's trademark and brand!
In 1996, it was under the introduction of Leung Botao, then managing director of Peregrine, that Wahaha and Danone began negotiations and finally cooperated. In the general environment at that time, on the one hand, foreign capital needed to borrow the power of Chinese enterprises to open the Chinese market; On the other hand, the introduction of foreign capital is the choice for many local enterprises to get rid of the bottleneck of development. After the joint venture between the two sides, there was also a honeymoon period, and the entry of foreign capital allowed Wahaha to introduce advanced equipment and management ideas, and its sales revenue and profits doubled for two consecutive years. However, the different concepts and management methods of the management of the two sides have also caused constant friction between the two sides in operation.
The conflict between the two sides erupted in 2006, after Fan Yimou, then chairman of Danone's Asia-Pacific region, took office, he began to investigate Wahaha's non-joint venture companies, believing that the existence of these non-joint ventures took away the market and profits that should have been enjoyed by the joint venture company, and demanded to acquire 51% of Wahaha's non-joint venture company at a price of 4 billion, but this move was rejected by Zong Qinghou.
For Wahaha at that time, there were no particularly high technical barriers to the production of drinking water, beverages and other productsOccupy the market mainly by the brand, thusTrademarks are one of its lifeblood.
Since the outbreak of the conflict, the two sides have taken turns to wage a tug-of-war in terms of **, capital, and justice. Danone accused Zong Qinghou of using the Wahaha trademark without permission; Zong Qinghou accused Danone of setting a trap and trying to maliciously acquire Wahaha, and international capital to occupy the "national brand". In May 2007, Danone officially launched legal proceedings against Wahaha, and the two sides conducted a total of 29 lawsuits at home and abroad, and even Chinese and French leaders participated in mediation.
In 2009, Danone and Wahaha reached a settlement whereby Danone offered its 51% stake in the joint venture for 4500 million US dollars ** to Wahaha, and the joint venture was withdrawn, and the "Dawa dispute" finally subsided. This classic business war case once again illustrates the role of trademarksThe importance of enterprise development!
Compared with Wahaha's hardness, another food brand, Robust, is not so lucky. In 2000, Robust was fully acquired by Danone. Unfortunately, after being hidden by Danone for 16 years, the Robust brand disappeared and lost its influence
It is no wonder that Wahaha Group, which has gone through the "Dawa dispute", is currently relatively stable in terms of equity relations and corporate revenue"Keeping the Wahaha trademark" is the most correct decision.
Although Zong Qinghou passed away, the "Wahaha" brand created by himself has grown into a well-known national brand in the food and beverage industry. How Wahaha will develop under the leadership of Zong Fuli, the "second-generation helmsman", and how the national brand will rejuvenate have become a topic of concern for many parties.
What is the most valuable asset of a business? is a trademark. Only by polishing the trademark can the enterprise be passed on in the name of the brand from generation to generation.
The process of applying for registration of a trademark
The process of trademark registration is as follows:
Step 1First of all, you must determine what product or service your trademark is applied to;
Step 2According to the product or service, determine which category of trademark you want to register;
Step 3If you already have a name, you need to re-name, otherwise the trademark will not be able to be applied, we can check through the query system on the official website of the Trademark Office, or you can send it to Enhui Intellectual Property *** to help you query;
Step 4Prepare relevant materials to apply for trademark registration to the Trademark Office;
Step 5: The Trademark Office conducts examination, which is divided into formal examination and substantive examination;
Formal examination: The time of formal examination is 3-4 months, and if the formal examination is passed, the trademark acceptance notice will be received, and the trademark that does not pass will not be accepted or required to be corrected.
Substantive examination: The time of substantive examination is 6-7 months, and if the substantive examination meets the requirements, it will enter the stage of preliminary examination and announcement of the trademark, and receive the notice of publication, and if it does not meet the requirements, it will be rejected.
Step 6Trademark Announcement: After the trademark examination is passed, it enters the preliminary examination announcement (note that the time is 3 months), and during the preliminary examination announcement, no one raises a trademark opposition, then the trademark is successfully registered.