---
title: "The Onlookers Should Disperse: Jiangxiaobai Is Still Jiangxiaobai!"
description: "Jiangxiaobai, a popular Chinese baijiu brand, faced a trademark dispute with Jiangjin Distillery. In 2016, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board declared one of its trademarks invalid, but the company still holds over 100 other registered trademarks and continues to sell its products normally. The recent court ruling only affects one specific graphic trademark, not the brand itself."
author: "New Distribution"
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published: "2019-03-31"
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# The Onlookers Should Disperse: Jiangxiaobai Is Still Jiangxiaobai!

> Jiangxiaobai, a popular Chinese baijiu brand, faced a trademark dispute with Jiangjin Distillery. In 2016, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board declared one of its trademarks invalid, but the company still holds over 100 other registered trademarks and continues to sell its products normally. The recent court ruling only affects one specific graphic trademark, not the brand itself.

"I am Jiangxiaobai, life is simple..." The "Jiangxiaobai" series of baijiu, produced by Chongqing Jiangxiaobai Liquor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jiangxiaobai Company"), has left a deep impression on many consumers with its unique packaging, cartoon image, and classic quotes.

However, in recent years, Jiangxiaobai Company has been embroiled in a trademark dispute with Chongqing Jiangjin Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jiangjin Distillery"). Following an application by Jiangjin Distillery, in 2016, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) under the former State Administration for Industry and Commerce ruled to declare the "Jiangxiaobai" trademark invalid.

Jiangxiaobai Company appealed the decision, and the case went through first and second instance trials. Recently, the Beijing Higher People's Court issued a final judgment supporting the TRAB's ruling and rejecting Jiangxiaobai Company's claims. Legal experts suggest this means Jiangxiaobai Company will lose the exclusive right to use the "Jiangxiaobai" trademark, and the three characters can no longer be used as a trademark.

This judgment stirred up waves in the liquor industry. Many reports claiming "Jiangxiaobai is no more" spread widely, but is that really the case? Onlookers should not follow the herd; let's break it down for you.

**Yesterday, Chongqing Jiangxiaobai Liquor Co., Ltd. issued an official statement titled "Statement on the 'Jiangxiaobai' Trademark":**

Regarding the first point in the response, "Since 2011, our company has registered over 100 'Jiangxiaobai' trademarks in China, which we can continue to use legally, and all Jiangxiaobai products are selling normally. The temporarily invalid trademark is only our registered No. 10325554 trademark." Our reporter looked up this No. 10325554 trademark, and it looks like this:

So, the disputed trademark declared invalid by the Beijing Higher People's Court is this graphic trademark. The key point is: Jiangxiaobai means that they have registered over a hundred Jiangxiaobai trademarks, and losing one is not a big deal. Don't make a fuss.

Currently, Jiangxiaobai more commonly uses graphic trademarks like this.

**The Full Story of the Jiangxiaobai Trademark Dispute**

For Tao Shiquan, the legal representative of Jiangxiaobai Company, Jiangjin Distillery was once a close partner. As early as 2012, Jiangjin District Sugar and Wine Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Jiangjin Distillery, signed a "Customized Product Sales Contract" with Sichuan New Blueprint Trading Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "New Blueprint Company"), authorizing New Blueprint Company as the distributor for customized products such as "Jijiang" brand Jiangjin Laobaigan, "Qingxiang No. 1, 2, 3" series, Ultra Clear series, and Vintage Aged series. At that time, the legal representative of New Blueprint Company was Tao Shiquan.

The contract also stipulated that the first party (Jiangjin Distillery) would adopt exclusive sales for the second party's (New Blueprint) customized products and would not sell to third-party customers other than the second party, to protect the second party's market development achievements. The second party was responsible for product concept creation, packaging design, advertising planning and implementation, and the recruitment and maintenance of secondary distribution channels, with the first party providing full cooperation. The first party should respect the second party's product concepts, packaging designs, advertising graphics, advertising slogans, and marketing plans, and without the second party's authorization, should not use them on products sold directly by the first party or by other customers of the first party...

At the start of the cooperation, Tao Shiquan targeted young consumers who were not inclined to drink baijiu. By creating a character with the personality of the target group, often using internet slang for self-deprecation, he marketed a "youthful small liquor" culture.

In March 2012, Jiangxiaobai debuted at the Chengdu Spring Sugar and Wine Fair and was quickly accepted by the target group, leading the trend in domestic baijiu consumption.

A small-bottle baijiu named "Jiangxiaobai" became popular, spreading across the country.

According to data, the "Jiangxiaobai" trademark was applied for registration by Chengdu Geshang Advertising Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Geshang Company") on December 19, 2011, and was approved for registration on February 21, 2013, designated for use on goods in Class 33, including "fruit wine (containing alcohol), aniseed wine (anise), appetizers, distilled spirits, distilled alcoholic beverages, cider, wine (liqueurs), wine (beverages), alcoholic beverages (except beer), and alcoholic beverages containing fruit," with a validity period until February 20, 2023.

On December 6, 2012, the Trademark Office approved the transfer of this trademark to New Blueprint Company; on June 6, 2016, the Trademark Office approved the transfer to Jiangxiaobai Company.

An industry insider revealed that after "Jiangxiaobai" received a positive response in the market, Jiangjin Distillery wanted to leverage its production capacity to share a larger piece of the pie. The two parties failed to reach a consensus and ended their cooperation at the end of 2012. Jiangxiaobai Company built its own Jiangji Winery, while Jiangjin Distillery launched a small bottle liquor called "Xiaojiangbai."

In public, Tao Shiquan has said that "Jiangxiaobai" was a brand he founded in 2011, and in the first half of 2012, he formally commissioned the century-old Jiangjin Distillery for mass production, while marketing and sales were fully handled by Jiangxiaobai itself.

Jiangjin Distillery, however, disagreed: "You are just our distributor. We used the 'Jiangxiaobai' brand first, and our email exchanges discussed the design drafts of 'Jiangxiaobai'..."

On May 30, 2016, Jiangjin Distillery filed a request with the TRAB to declare the trademark invalid.

The TRAB found that evidence submitted by Jiangjin Distillery showed that New Blueprint Company and Jiangxiaobai Company were distributors of Jiangjin Distillery, and there was a cooperative relationship between them. Tao Shiquan, the legal representative of New Blueprint Company and Jiangxiaobai Company, had email exchanges with Jiangjin Distillery regarding design drafts, so he should have known about Jiangjin Distillery's "Jiangxiaobai" trademark. Although the disputed trademark was not applied for in the name of Jiangxiaobai Company, New Blueprint Company's application for registration of a trademark highly similar to Jiangjin Distillery's trademark without authorization was clearly malicious.

According to Article 15 of the 2001 Trademark Law: "Where an agent or representative, without authorization, registers the trademark of the principal or represented party in its own name, and the principal or represented party raises an objection, the trademark shall not be registered and its use shall be prohibited." The TRAB ultimately ruled the "Jiangxiaobai" trademark invalid.

Jiangxiaobai Company refused to accept the decision and filed an administrative lawsuit with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. The court accepted the case on February 20, 2017, formed a collegial panel, and notified Jiangjin Distillery to participate as a third party. The case was heard in public on June 6, 2017.

The court held that before the application date of the disputed trademark, "Jiangxiaobai" was not a trademark of Jiangjin Distillery, and New Blueprint Company's application for registration did not infringe upon Jiangjin Distillery's legitimate rights and interests, nor did it constitute a violation of Article 15 of the 2001 amended Trademark Law. The TRAB's ruling was based on insufficient evidence, erroneous findings of fact, and incorrect application of law, leading to a wrong conclusion. The court revoked the TRAB's ruling declaring the "Jiangxiaobai" trademark invalid and ordered the TRAB to make a new ruling.

The TRAB and Jiangjin Distillery appealed the first-instance judgment to the Beijing Higher People's Court.

Upon review, the court found that based on existing evidence, although the disputed trademark was applied for by Geshang Company, it was transferred to New Blueprint Company during the application process. New Blueprint Company was a distributor of Jiangjin Distillery, and its legal representative Tao Shiquan had email exchanges with Jiangjin Distillery regarding the "Jiangxiaobai" brand design drafts, so he should have known about Jiangjin Distillery's "Jiangxiaobai" trademark. The "Customized Product Sales Contract" signed between Jiangjin District Sugar and Wine Co., Ltd. and New Blueprint Company on February 20, 2012, did not stipulate the ownership of trademarks and other intellectual property.

Furthermore, evidence submitted by Jiangjin Distillery, including sales contracts, product delivery orders, and cargo transport agreements, showed that before the application date of the disputed trademark, Jiangjin Distillery had already made preparations for actual use of "Jiangxiaobai" and had actually used the "Jiangxiaobai" brand first. The TRAB and Jiangjin Distillery's grounds for appeal were established, and the court supported them.

"The original judgment found the facts basically clear, but applied the law incorrectly, which this court corrects according to law. Jiangxiaobai Company's claims lack factual and legal basis, and its requests should be rejected." Recently, the Beijing Higher People's Court issued a final judgment: revoking the administrative judgment of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court (2017) Jing 73 Xing Chu No. 1213; and rejecting Jiangxiaobai Company's claims.

**Lawyer's Opinion: Invalid Trademark Can Still Be Used as a Product Identifier**

What do the involved parties, Jiangxiaobai Company and Jiangjin Distillery, have to say about this?

On March 29, a reporter from Shangyou News called both companies. A deputy general manager surnamed Liu from Jiangxiaobai Company answered the phone but hung up upon hearing it was a reporter. Jiangjin Distillery's publicity department also declined to respond, providing a landline number for a deputy general manager surnamed Wang, but repeated calls went unanswered.

After the "Jiangxiaobai" trademark was declared invalid, does Jiangxiaobai Company have any recourse? Will there be no more "Jiangxiaobai" brand in the market? Shangyou News interviewed Sang Yangyang, a lawyer from Chongqing Kunyuan Hengtai Law Firm, who specializes in intellectual property protection.

"In fact, Jiangxiaobai Company still has one last step: applying to the Supreme People's Court for retrial. If the retrial succeeds, they can still retain the disputed 'Jiangxiaobai' trademark," Sang said. He believes Jiangxiaobai Company will definitely file for retrial, but it will be difficult and requires solid evidence to win the case.

Sang stated that even if the "Jiangxiaobai" trademark is invalid, the "Jiangxiaobai" brand will still exist in the market. Currently, brands are protected not only through registered trademarks but also through unregistered trademarks or product names and trade names with certain influence. Jiangxiaobai Company can continue to use "Jiangxiaobai" as an unregistered trademark, product name, or trade name. If Jiangjin Distillery can prove that its prior use of "Jiangxiaobai" has certain influence, it may sue Jiangxiaobai Company for unfair competition. Whether it constitutes unfair competition would depend on factors such as the duration of use, fame, subjective intent, and likelihood of confusion.

"Even if the 'Jiangxiaobai' trademark is invalid, other companies cannot use it arbitrarily!" Sang warned, because if Jiangjin Distillery or Jiangxiaobai Company finds other companies using "Jiangxiaobai" on alcoholic products, they will inevitably file unfair competition lawsuits based on product names or trade names with influence.

Tao Shiquan has always stated that Jiangxiaobai is a brand he founded in 2011, and in the first half of 2012, he formally commissioned the century-old Jiangjin Distillery for mass production, while marketing and sales were fully handled by Jiangxiaobai. Last night, Hao Hongfeng, chairman of Jiuxian.com, commented on his social media that everyone knows Jiangxiaobai belongs to Tao Shiquan. This also shows that Tao Shiquan has made tremendous efforts and investments in Jiangxiaobai. As for the long-standing feud with Jiangjin Distillery, Tao Shiquan may need to spend effort to resolve it. After all, for Tao Shiquan and his Chongqing operating company Jiangxiaobai, the future involves not only the company's own development but also facing repeated trademark invalidation lawsuits from Jiangjin Distillery. Even if some trademarks cannot be invalidated, it is clear that responding to lawsuits is time-consuming, and if the currently popular graphic and text trademarks of Jiangxiaobai are invalidated, the loss would be enormous.

Especially for FMCG products, consumers recognize the brand. Once the brand name is lost, the loss is significant. Renaming and rebuilding brand awareness is possible, but you would lose to time, and many marketing successes are accidental; the same operator may not succeed again under different timing and communication environments.

Sources: Blue Hole New Consumption, Shangyou News, Jiangxiaobai Liquor
Compiled by: New Distribution

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