Two liquor giants sue it for trademark infringement
The controversial "high-priced liquor" Tinghuajiu has also annoyed two liquor giants this time: Kweichow Moutai (600519.SH) and Luzhou Laojiao (000568.SZ).
Kweichow Moutai and Luzhou Laojiao have filed lawsuits against Yibin Tinghua Wine Development Co., Ltd. in Yibin Intermediate People's Court since late March on the grounds of trademark infringement and unfair competition disputes. Both cases have been filed.
The reason for the lawsuit is that from mid-September to early October 2021, when Maotai and Guojiao 1573 searched for their own brand terms, they saw Tinghua on the website for about two weeks.
Two liquor giants:
Why does a search for your own brand pop up your ad?
Tinghua wine is sold by the listed company Qinghai Spring (600381.SH).
Since last year, "listening to flower wine" has become a hot word on the Internet many times.
In particular, its astonishing sky-high price is hugely controversial: its 750ml standard pack is priced at 5,860 yuan/bottle, and its boutique pack is priced at 58,600 yuan/bottle.
Tinghuajiu, with its price position far exceeding Feitian Moutai, has aroused extensive discussions outside, even including the question of "storytelling" and "IQ tax".
Today, two major liquor giants, Maotai and Luzhou Laojiao, have sued Tinghua Wine at the same time, which has also attracted the attention of the outside world.
Kweichow Moutai pointed out in the complaint that after entering "Moutai" in a search engine, the advertisement for "Tinghuajiu" appeared on the search results page.
After inquiry, Tinghua Wine Industry is the advertiser of "Tinghua Wine", and Kweichow Moutai and Tinghua Wine Industry are the same operators.
In the commercial behavior of promoting high-end new liquor, Tinghua Wine Industry used its registered trademark "Moutai" as a search keyword for advertisements, which improperly attached to the popularity and reputation of Kweichow Moutai products.
Luzhou Laojiao’s complaint is similar, pointing out that in September 2021, the company discovered that Tinghua Wine Industry had used “Guojiao” and “Guojiao 1573” as keywords for its new products in the promotion service of a search engine without permission. "Tinghua Liquor" is used for commercial promotion. This new product is positioned as a high-end liquor, which is divided into two types: Luzhou-flavored and Maotai-flavored.
Tinghua Wine Industry improperly used the high popularity of Luzhou Laojiao trademark and the competitive advantage of "Guojiao 1573" products in the high-end liquor market to attract Internet users to click on its advertisements to increase browsing and trading opportunities, and infringed the exclusive right to use the registered trademark of Luzhou Laojiao. At the same time, it constitutes an act of unfair competition.
On May 26, when the reporter searched for key words such as "Moutai", "National Cellar" and "National Cellar 1573" through a search platform, the web page displayed normal, and the related search results of "Tinghuajiu" mentioned in the complaint are no longer displayed.
As a matter of fact, the court has found inconsistent with whether the "near famous brand" involves trademark infringement and unfair competition, and the specific case should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
Listen to Huajiu's response:
Comply with relevant policies and regulations and prepare to respond to lawsuits
In response to the two major liquor giants suing Tinghuajiu, on the afternoon of May 26, Tinghuajiu's official Weibo issued a statement, saying that the company learned of the indictment from the Internet on May 20.
Prior to this, no relevant communication documents or lawyer's letters have been received, and I am completely unaware of this.
Tinghuajiu said that the lawsuits of Kweichow Moutai and Luzhou Laojiao were from mid-September to early October 2021, and for about two weeks, the above two companies used "Moutai" and "National Cellar 1573" as keywords on a search platform. During the search, relevant information about Tinghua wine appeared on the webpage, so it was believed that Tinghua was suspected of infringing the trademark rights and unfair competition of the two.
In response, Kweichow Moutai and Luzhou Laojiao claimed 500,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan respectively.
The statement stated that Tinghua Wine Industry had signed an agreement with a company in Chengdu, and conducted a two-week promotion service test on a search platform in early September 2021; according to the agreement, the promotion information provided by Tinghua Wine Industry did not contain any Content that violates national laws and regulations conforms to the relevant policies and regulations of the search platform.
At present, Tinghua Wine Industry is understanding the details and preparing to respond to the lawsuit. This matter will not affect the production and operation of Tinghua Wine.
an expert
Mutual supervision between wine companies will help the industry to improve legal awareness
Tinghuajiu was sued by the two major liquor giants, Maotai and Luzhou Laojiao, and was also sent to the Internet hot search.
Some netizens believe that Tinghuajiu is deliberately hyping up the famous brand; some netizens believe that the growing Tinghuajiu has aroused the vigilance of liquor giants to a certain extent.
It is worth mentioning that the data released by Tinghuajiu shows that the beverage business has achieved revenue of 52.9695 million yuan in the first quarter of this year, which is twice that of the whole of last year in a single season.
Even Morgan Stanley has quietly become the company's 10th largest shareholder.
Because of Tinghuajiu, Qinghai Spring’s stock price has risen by as much as 83.58% this year.
Cai Xuefei, an analyst in the liquor industry, said that disputes between companies during advertising are a common business phenomenon.
In the current adjustment period of China's liquor industry, the mutual supervision and promotion of Chinese liquor companies is conducive to the improvement of legal awareness of the entire industry and promotes the development of competition and cooperation in the industry.
Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Li Weiming