Online sale of a variety of drinks "hit the face" sauce-flavored lattes, lawyers: may constitute infringement

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"Maotai-flavored latte", as a hot entry not long ago, not only pushed the popularity of the co-signed brand to a new height, but also the related keywords were also on the hot search. Just when everyone thought that this wave of craze was about to pass, a milk tea product with very similar appearance and packaging appeared offline, which made this entry scan the home page again.

According to upstream news reports, there have been many milk tea solid drinks sold in supermarkets and online shopping platforms under the banner of "Maotai latte", not only in name similar to Ruixing's Maotai latte, but also in the design of outer packaging.

Through search on popular online shopping platforms, it can be found that several "Maotai-flavor lattes" have sold hundreds of them.

Among them, a drink called "Cookie Sauce-flavored Latte original Coffee" ranks relatively high, and has been on the shelves in many supermarkets, with a retail price of 4.8 yuan per cup. In addition to the fact that the outer packaging style of the cup body is similar to that of Ruixin Maotai-flavored latte, promotional texts such as "Wine and Coffee I only choose it" and "Maotai-flavored latte" also "hit my face" with Lucky. In this regard, some netizens joked, "Lucky, Maotai, Gucci are silent …"

Another top-ranked "Muzi tea sauce latte instant coffee drink", the outer packaging and Lucky's joint model is also very similar. When the reporter asked each other "what is the flavor of Maotai", the customer service replied that the drink was 0 alcohol, the taste of Maotai was caused by the liquor-flavor beverage, and the "Maotai-flavor latte" was just the name of the drink.

In order to learn more details, upstream journalists also contacted the manufacturers of the above-mentioned solid drinks. The staff said that the "Maotai latte" beverage was launched in September, and its outer packaging is indeed similar to Ruixing Maotai latte, but it is not infringing. Stripes are different. In terms of taste, the drink is similar to Ruixing's Maotai latte, mainly using coffee and milk, using wine mash to achieve Maotai taste. As for the cost, there is no way to reveal more.

In fact, since Ruixing and Maotai reached a joint name, with the "Maotai latte" all over the network, there have been various brands of "copying homework" phenomenon on the market. The composition of bright red background + blue-white slash has been applied to a variety of products, including, but not limited to, milk tea, fruits, snacks, toys, clothing, daily necessities. So, is this kind of product which is highly similar to "Maotai latte" infringing?

In response to this kind of "imitation" phenomenon, Pan Xingwang, a partner of Chongqing Kunyuan Hengtai Law firm, said that according to the Trademark Law, the use of the same or similar trademark on the same or similar goods without the permission of the trademark registrant is an infringement of the exclusive right to use the registered trademark.

The name and appearance of the "Maotai latte" drinks sold online are similar to those of Ruixing, which can easily lead to confusion among consumers. To discuss whether there is infringement, it depends on the shape, text and pattern of the product, as well as whether it has been registered as a trademark. If registered, random use by others constitutes infringement. As for the claim of the joint product, it depends on whether the trademark registrant is lucky or Maotai.

At present, although a number of classified trademarks about "Maotai latte" are being registered, including wine, convenience food, beer and beverages, leather goods and other categories, Ruixing and Maotai have not been found to apply for the trademark.

In this regard, according to Nine School News, many producers said that the category of "Maotai-flavor latte" could not be registered, and there was no corresponding copyright regulation for color matching in China, and the slogan was registered earlier than Lucky. From these points of view, these merchants believe that their products do not infringe upon Ruixing's trademark and copyright, so there is no legal risk.

However, some lawyers have made it clear that the protection of trademark and copyright does not depend solely on registration. The protection of trademark rights is based on the use and popularity of trademarks. If the packaging design and advertising slogans of sauce-flavored lattes are similar to Luckin Coffee's trademarks and copyrights, and may lead to confusion and misunderstanding among consumers, then Ruixing may still claim infringement.

Picture from: Internet

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