---
title: "Laogan Dad, Ali Mom, Lei Bi, Xing Ba Ke, Eight Walnuts... Surprisingly Not Counterfeits!"
description: "Counterfeit products are rampant, but some seemingly fake brands like 'Lei Bi' (imitating Sprite) and 'Xing Ba Ke' (imitating Starbucks) are actually registered by the original companies as defensive trademarks. Major companies like Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and小米 have registered numerous similar trademarks to protect their brands."
author: "每经编辑"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2017-06-18"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/laogan-dad-ali-mom-lei-bi-xing-ba-ke-eight-walnuts-surprisingly-not-coun-ef96ab04/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/laogan-dad-ali-mom-lei-bi-xing-ba-ke-eight-walnuts-surprisingly-not-coun-ef96ab04.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2ouF1YKhZYYM00TLYU2TpA"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E8%80%81%E5%B9%B2%E7%88%B9-%E9%98%BF%E9%87%8C%E5%A6%88%E5%A6%88-%E9%9B%B7%E7%A2%A7-%E6%98%9F%E5%B7%B4%E5%AE%A2-%E5%85%AB%E4%B8%AA%E6%A0%B8%E6%A1%83-%E5%B1%85%E7%84%B6%E9%83%BD%E4%B8%8D%E6%98%AF%E5%B1%B1%E5%AF%A8-ef96ab04.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/laogan-dad-ali-mom-lei-bi-xing-ba-ke-eight-walnuts-surprisingly-not-coun-ef96ab04/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# Laogan Dad, Ali Mom, Lei Bi, Xing Ba Ke, Eight Walnuts... Surprisingly Not Counterfeits!

> Counterfeit products are rampant, but some seemingly fake brands like 'Lei Bi' (imitating Sprite) and 'Xing Ba Ke' (imitating Starbucks) are actually registered by the original companies as defensive trademarks. Major companies like Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and小米 have registered numerous similar trademarks to protect their brands.

Want to buy "Master Kong" but get "Kang Shuai Fu"; want to drink "Wahaha" but get "Wa Qia Qia"; and "Missing" becomes "Ennian", "Oreo" becomes "Yue Li Yue"... Cases of counterfeit products are numerous, both laughable and hateful.
▲ Shandong Binzhou: Various counterfeit foods at rural market; Oreo becomes Yue Li Yue (Image source: VCG)
Because counterfeiters are so creative with names and packaging, legitimate companies are often caught off guard. Forced to respond, these companies adopt a "fight fire with fire" strategy—registering a batch of trademarks first to leave no loopholes for speculators.
Thus, you see ridiculous scenes like "Lei Bi" imitating Sprite, "Xing Ba Ke" imitating Starbucks, "Wa Ha Ha" imitating Wahaha... These brands are not actually counterfeits but registered by the well-known companies themselves.
******Major Companies Register "Counterfeit" Trademarks**
Yesterday (June 14), a Weibo post went viral. A netizen said that White Rabbit, to protect its trademark, registered nearly a dozen similar trademarks: Big Gray Rabbit, Big Black Rabbit, Big Flower Rabbit, Little White Rabbit, Gold Rabbit, Silver Rabbit...
The authentic White Rabbit candy is produced by Shanghai Guanshengyuan Food Co., Ltd. The author searched the Trademark Office system and found that Shanghai Guanshengyuan Food has indeed registered many similar trademarks, such as "Giant White Rabbit", "Giant White Rabbit", "Gold Rabbit" registered in 2014; "Big Black Rabbit", "Big Flower Rabbit", "Big Gray Rabbit", "Big Red Rabbit" registered in 1991.
▲ Some trademarks registered by Guanshengyuan (Image source: Trademark Office)
Clearly, Guanshengyuan is a color enthusiast, but they are not alone. Lei Jun and his Xiaomi are also masters of color—we know about Redmi phones, but few know that Xiaomi has registered Blue Rice, Black Rice, Purple Rice, Orange Rice, Green Rice, Yellow Rice, and Orange Rice!
▲ Some trademarks registered by Xiaomi (Image source: Trademark Office)
Perhaps one day, a Mi fan can collect the rainbow set of Xiaomi phones and dominate the Mi fan community.
If color enthusiasts are cute, then family enthusiasts are warm. Speaking of such trademarks, Lei Jun can learn from Jack Ma.
Since there is Alibaba (father) and Jack Ma as father, why not Ali Mom? With Ali Mom, why not Ali Grandpa and Ali Grandma? An only child is lonely, so Ali Big Brother, Ali Little Brother, Ali Big Sister, and Ali Little Sister are also great; of course, Ali Baby is indispensable, as hope lies in the next generation, and with a baby, the whole family is livelier!
▲ Some trademarks registered by Alibaba (Image source: Trademark Office)
As an important aspect of Chinese interpersonal culture, non-blood relationships are often maintained through godparents. Well, we have Laogan Ma (Tao Huabi), but that's not enough. With Laogan Dad, Laogan Ma is not lonely; of course, you can also call them Laogan Ba and Laogan Niang, depending on your mood and local customs; moreover, relationships are reciprocal—if there are godfathers and godmothers, there are god sons and god daughters.
▲ Some trademarks registered by Laogan Ma (Image source: Trademark Office)
Are the complex colors and the intricate relationships of aunts and uncles confusing you? Let's look at something simpler: numbers.
The manufacturer of Six Walnuts is called Yangyuan Zhihui. When we drink Six Walnuts, we might feel that this drink contains the nutrition of six walnuts. But what if someone's product is Seven Walnuts? Consumers might think: Seven walnuts must be more nutritious than six. (So the editor didn't find walnuts below six.)
Unfortunately, this happened: Seven Walnuts has been taken:
▲ Image source: Trademark Office
Ten Walnuts has also been taken:
▲ Image source: Trademark Office
Even worse, someone has produced Nine Walnuts, which is exactly three more than Six Walnuts, a 50% increase.
▲ Shandong Binzhou: Various counterfeit foods at rural market (Image source: VCG)
It's impossible to guard against everything. Not just walnuts, but walnuts plus dates, a more balanced nutritional combination (click image to enlarge):
▲ Image source: Trademark Office
What to do? Yangyuan Zhihui came up with a solution: it registered "Eight Walnuts" and "Nine Walnuts".
▲ Image source: Trademark Office
Six Walnuts costs at most a few yuan per bottle. But if a product like Wuliangye, which costs hundreds of yuan per bottle, is counterfeited, the losses would be huge.
For alcohol enthusiasts, a fine liquor fermented from five grains is already attractive. What about six grains, seven grains, eight grains, ten grains... or even a thousand grains? What kind of nectar would that be?
Wuliangye won't give others a chance. Six Grains, Seven Grains, Eight Grains, and Thousand Grains are all theirs. To be safe, they also registered Two Grains, Two Grains Spring, Ten Grains Spring... all in one sweep!
▲ Some trademarks registered by Wuliangye (Image source: Trademark Office)
If the above cases have some logic, the following examples can only be described as unbridled, flash of inspiration, or uncanny workmanship. Look at this picture first:
▲ Image source: Baidu Baike
Clearly, these two bottles of "Lei Bi" are "counterfeits" of Sprite, owned by Coca-Cola. But the packaging color, pattern, and font are almost identical to the real Sprite. If you're not paying attention, you might mistake them.
You might find it hard to believe that the owner of the "Lei Bi" trademark is indeed Coca-Cola! Yes, that Coca-Cola!
▲ "Lei Bi" trademark registered by Coca-Cola (Image source: Trademark Office)
Seeing "Lei Bi", the author seems to see the increasingly bald forehead of Coca-Cola's brand manager. Compared to Coca-Cola, Starbucks' trademark registrations can only be described as insane. They might have flipped through the Xinhua Dictionary: Xing Ba Ke, Ba Ke Xing, Ba Xing Ke, Xin Ba Ke, Xin Ba Ke, Xin Ba Te (excellent cross-talk material)... If you can think of it, they've done it.
▲ Some trademarks registered by Starbucks (Image source: Trademark Office)
Misery loves company. Procter & Gamble, for Head & Shoulders, also racked their brains and had to register "Mei Fei Si".
▲ Image source: Trademark Office
**Why Do Major Companies Madly Register Trademarks?**
Why are so many major companies madly registering trademarks? What's their intention?
The author interviewed Lawyer Jin from a Chengdu law firm. Lawyer Jin said that if a company chooses a certain class when applying for trademark registration, such as Coca-Cola choosing "non-alcoholic beverages" for "Lei Bi", then if another merchant produces a "Lei Bi" brand non-alcoholic beverage, Coca-Cola can sue.
However, when filing a lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant's trademark is similar to theirs. Additionally, Coca-Cola registering "Lei Bi" might be a preventive measure to avoid counterfeiting. Because if Coca-Cola doesn't register "Lei Bi", another merchant could produce "Lei Bi" and change the font design, making it difficult for Coca-Cola to prove the trademark is similar to "Sprite".
But for the "Lei Bi" beverage in the picture above, Lawyer Jin believes that even if Coca-Cola sues for trademark infringement of "Sprite", they would likely win because the packaging of the counterfeit product is very similar to Sprite. Coca-Cola's registration of "Lei Bi" is mainly a preventive measure.
In recent years, trademark cases involving major companies are not uncommon. For example, the "Xin Bailun" and "New Balance" case. In 2006, New Balance Trading (China) Co., Ltd. was established to sell New Balance sports shoes in China. To adapt to the Chinese market, this American company chose the Chinese name "Xin Bailun" for promotion and marketing. But this trademark was taken to court by Zhou Lelun, a Guangzhou citizen who had previously obtained the "Xin Bailun" trademark. According to Beijing Business Today on June 27, 2016, the Guangdong Provincial High People's Court publicly announced the verdict, ruling that New Balance Trading (China) Co., Ltd. constituted infringement and must pay 5 million RMB in compensation to the plaintiff.
Additionally, Guizhou's "Laogan Ma" and Fujian's "Lao Da Ma" also engaged in a trademark ownership dispute. In 2016, the four-year dispute finally concluded. The Beijing High People's Court made a final judgment that the "Lao Da Ma" trademark applied for by Fujian Nan'an Aqingsao Food Co., Ltd. constituted imitation of the well-known trademarks "Laogan Ma and Tao Huabi's portrait" and "Laogan Ma" held by Guiyang Nanming Laogan Ma Flavor Food Co., Ltd.
So, what constitutes trademark infringement? Trademark infringement refers to: without the permission of the trademark owner, using a trademark that is identical or similar to the registered trademark on identical or similar goods, or other acts that interfere with or hinder the trademark owner's use of the registered trademark, damaging the legitimate rights and interests of the trademark owner.
The current Trademark Law Article 13 stipulates:
> For a trademark well known to the relevant public, if the holder believes that their rights are infringed, they may request protection as a well-known trademark in accordance with this Law.
>
>
>
>
> For a trademark applied for registration on identical or similar goods that is a copy, imitation, or translation of a well-known trademark not registered in China, and is likely to cause confusion, it shall not be registered and its use shall be prohibited.
>
>
>
>
> For a trademark applied for registration on dissimilar goods that is a copy, imitation, or translation of a well-known trademark already registered in China, misleading the public and potentially harming the interests of the well-known trademark registrant, it shall not be registered and its use shall be prohibited.
Finally, let's look at the trademarks that pop up when searching for "Nike" to deeply understand how tough these big brands have it:
What bizarre counterfeit products have you encountered in your life? Leave a comment to share with us.
**Source: Daily Economic News (ID: nbdnews)******
-END-


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671