△ Add friend and note "inspection" to register Introduction: This century-old Red Bull dispute is not just about the future, but also about money already pocketed. In the dispute between the Xu family and Yan Bin over the Red Bull beverage market in China, Yan Bin, independent of the joint venture Red Bull Vitamin Beverage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Red Bull China), built a business empire wholly owned by him—Huabin Group—including multiple factories and sales companies. In October 2016, the Red Bull trademark in China expired, and the Xu family stated they would not renew. Additionally, the Xu family believes that other Red Bull-related companies under Huabin Group—those in which the Xu family has no shares—never received authorization for the Red Bull trademark from the start. Of course, Yan Bin's side disagrees. Regarding this dispute, there is also a contract "Rashomon" that you may not know about. Authorization Rashomon: Does Yan Bin's self-established factory have the right to use the Red Bull trademark? According to Red Bull China's official website, Red Bull beverages currently have five production bases in China: Beijing, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Hubei, and Hainan. Additionally, its sales network covers the whole country. However, business registration data shows that within this vast Red Bull production and sales system, only the Red Bull China headquarters in Huairou District, Beijing, and Hainan Red Bull Beverage Co., Ltd. in Haikou have Xu family equity. The rest currently belong to Huabin Group. A lawyer for the Xu family told N+ Finance (WeChat ID: njcjnews) that the joint venture is the only enterprise in mainland China licensed by the Xu family to produce Red Bull beverages. The three Red Bull factories and several sales companies under Huabin Group, which Yan Bin set up without authorization, have never received authorization from the Xu family, and their production and operation of Red Bull products have no legal basis. But Red Bull China says it has the basis. As the owner of the Red Bull trademark, Thailand Tiansi Medical and Health Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Tiansi Medical, a company under the Xu family), what extent does the "Trademark License Contract" signed with Red Bull China allow Red Bull China to use the trademark? Investigation by reporters found that both sides each hold a contract that should be identical, but now it seems there are obvious differences in meaning at key points, and the Red Bull trademark authorization has thus fallen into a new Rashomon. This starts with Beijing Red Bull Beverage Sales Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Beijing Sales Company) under Huabin Group. Beijing Sales Company is currently the largest company responsible for Red Bull beverage sales in China. Its predecessor was Beijing Huashang Beverage Sales Company under Huabin Group, which was renamed in December 2006 and adopted "Red Bull" as its trade name. At the time of the name change, the resolution to amend the company's articles of association mentioned: "To facilitate the better development of our business, Red Bull China now specially authorizes our company to use 'Red Bull' as a trade name." A "Red Bull Trademark License Contract" obtained by reporters from the filing documents of Beijing Sales Company shows: "The licensor (Tiansi Medical) authorizes the licensee (Red Bull China) to establish necessary marketing organizations and directly use or authorize the use of 'Red Bull' as a corporate trade name as needed for the development of Red Bull in China." The contract was signed in 2006. According to this clause, the establishment of Beijing Sales Company is justified. A "Red Bull Trademark License Contract" obtained by reporters from the filing documents of Beijing Sales Company Image source: Provided by insider But the Xu family's legal team insists that Tiansi Medical never signed a "Trademark License Agreement" containing this clause. A lawyer said: "For a globally renowned brand like Red Bull, signing a clause that allows sublicensing without the licensor's consent is clearly not in line with business logic." The Xu family's lawyers showed reporters the "Trademark License Contracts" signed in 2006 and 2009, and the corresponding clauses state: "Unless the licensor (Tiansi Medical) gives prior written consent, the licensee (Red Bull China) shall not transfer part or all of the rights granted by the licensor to the licensee (reporter's note: the right to use the Red Bull series registered trademarks) to any third party, nor shall it delegate, give, or assign any rights granted by the licensor to the licensee." This statement is indeed very different from the version cited by Beijing Sales Company. The Xu family's legal team even insists that Yan Bin "tampered with" the sublicensing clauses. Regarding the differences between the two Red Bull trademark license contracts, reporters recently consulted a manager of Huabin Group, but he said he was unaware. For a time, this important trademark license document became difficult to distinguish between true and false, and the establishment process of the above-mentioned Huabin Red Bull companies became confusing. Why is the trademark dispute progressing slowly? Huabin Group reveals the reason Since August 2016, the Xu family has filed lawsuits against three Red Bull factories under Huabin Group and Beijing Sales Company and its branches for trademark infringement and unfair competition. In addition, the Xu family also filed a lawsuit against Yan Bin personally for using other enterprises to harm the legitimate rights and interests of Red Bull China and other shareholders during his tenure as chairman of Red Bull China. Facing the Xu family's lawsuits, Yan Bin's confrontational attitude is also intriguing. According to records on the China Judgments Online website, in 2017, Yan Bin's side, in the name of Red Bull China, filed a lawsuit against Tiansi Medical, arguing that although the relevant Red Bull trademarks were registered in Tiansi's name, according to the agreements in the joint venture contracts of 1995 and 1998, the Red Bull trademarks and similar trademarks used by Red Bull beverages are part of Red Bull China's assets, and Tiansi Medical is obliged to immediately transfer the registered trademarks No. 878072, 878073, 1289559, 1264582, 5608276, 1219609 and the same or similar Red Bull series trademarks to the plaintiff (Red Bull China). The case was filed on September 19, 2017. At the same time, regarding the trademark infringement lawsuits filed by the Xu family against "Huabin system" Red Bull companies in many places across the country, Yan Bin's side also filed counterclaims for confirmation of non-infringement, and even based on "unjust enrichment," demanded that the Xu family return the huge advertising expenses that Huabin Group had invested in Red Bull. Red Bull China has never relaxed its claims to trademark-related rights, and even demands the return of fees. In addition, the company has continuously raised jurisdictional objections to related lawsuits and continued to appeal. What is the purpose of this series of actions? Yang Rongkuan, a lawyer from the All China Lawyers Association, explained: In intellectual property litigation, if you claim that someone else is infringing, you must first prove that you have ownership, then prove that the other party is infringing, and only then can you claim damages. Ownership, infringement, and damages constitute the three key points in determining such cases, and they are interlinked. Image source: Visual China On the one hand, Yan Bin denied the ownership relationship identified by the other party and filed a lawsuit to confirm that the rights to the Red Bull trademark belong not to Tiansi Medical but to Red Bull China. On the other hand, he also filed counterclaims to confirm that he did not infringe. "The common goal of these two steps is confrontational litigation. The ownership of the trademark is the foundation. If the rights are shaken, then subsequent trials may have problems. Therefore, regardless of whether the reasons they put forward are valid, the court must review them. After this process, the entire litigation procedure is prolonged. In addition, raising jurisdictional objections is also a common method to delay litigation," Yang Rongkuan said. In response, the above-mentioned Huabin Group manager said that without violating legal procedures, the group's related litigation aims to have time to restore the historical process of the dispute. Both sides do need to sort out some facts so that the historical and legal facts become clearer. The rest can only wait for the People's Court to hear and judge. The two sides continue to clash in litigation, and the progress of the cases has indeed become very slow. Reporters learned that the case in which Red Bull China, as the plaintiff, sued Tiansi Medical to claim ownership of the Red Bull series trademarks was withdrawn by the plaintiff in August this year. As for the trademark infringement cases filed by the Xu family against the three "Huabin system" Red Bull factories and related sales companies, some have already been heard, but the court has not yet made a judgment. Source: N+ Finance (ID: njcjnews) The 10th B-end E-commerce Inspection--"From Product to Scene" Event time: December 10-13 Event location: Wuhu, Nanjing, Changsha Event schedule:
Morning of December 10: Visit Three Squirrels headquarters + snack store
Afternoon of December 10: Visit Nanjing Squirrel small store
Evening of December 10: Visit Nanjing Master Gao Beer Workshop
All day December 11: Nanjing-Changsha, or free arrangement
Morning of December 12: Community group buying exchange salon
Afternoon of December 12: Koala Select Heroes League launch event
Evening of December 12 to early morning of December 13: On-site inspection of Koala Select logistics center——This time is the peak period for warehouse sorting, allowing direct observation and learning of the backend operation process of community group buying e-commerce Welcome interested distributor friends to join us for understanding and on-site inspection : Organization format 1. Big-name exchange salon************2. Company visit
- On-site explanation
- One-on-one communication************5. Actual market case visit Friends who want to participate If you are interested in a specific day's content, you can register separately Long press this QR code or click "Read Original" to register in one click! Add friend and note the purpose -END-