In the mainland, energy drinks have always been favored by the people, especially in some large-scale sports activities or institutions, and have established close cooperation with various different types of energy drinks. Dongpeng Special Drink and Red Bull are widely known energy drink brands, and their marketing strategies are widely known and have successfully captured the energy drink market.
However, according to relevant information, Red Bull was recently sued in court for trademark issues, but did not win the case.
The purpose of this defeat is not only to recover all Red Bull drinks sold on the market, but also to pay a huge amount of compensation to Thai Red Bull. What kind of situation is that? Is this the end of Red Bull's boom?
First, the Red Bull trademark struggle
So far, many people think that Red Bull is a mainland brand, but in fact, the trademark of the brand belongs to a company in Thailand that has maintained a good relationship with Red Bull and has benefited a lot from it.
However, as the 16-year year approached, the Thai company refused the invitation to renew and took back all the trademarks, which led to a fierce trademark battle between the two companies that has lasted for five years. On the mainland, Red Bull's boom period took place during the period of cooperation, which was considered legal but also a major point of contradiction.
Due to the failure of the two companies to agree on the duration of the cooperation, there was a certain misunderstanding between the two sides, with the mainland believing that the cooperation period was 50 years, while Thailand believed that the term was 20 years, which may be the reason why the two sides could not reach an agreement. The disagreement between the two parties led to the dispute over the Red Bull trademark never resolved. Therefore, since the withdrawal of the Thai company, mainland enterprises have been continuously using the Red Bull trademark, and filed a lawsuit to continue to use the trademark legally in 08.
Red Bull in China did not stop at maintaining the use of its trademark, but demanded compensation from Thailand for the advertising costs it used during this period. However, the request was denied, resulting in a losing case. The Red Bull beverage market has always been the domain of Red Bull beverage companies. Despite the impressive sales in the Red Bull beverage market, Chinese companies did not give up easily, so they appealed again, but ultimately failed.
Second, the right to use the Red Bull trademark has been stripped away, and with it, it has been forcibly reduced
The Jilin Supreme Court has reached a clear conclusion, requiring China's Red Bull Company to start stopping the production of Red Bull's trademark functional drinks and pay 30 million yuan in compensation from Thailand for its unauthorized use.
Due to the long-term review and investigation of the products of Red Bull in China, the market supervision department found that some merchants were selling functional drinks under the Red Bull trademark without permission, so Red Bull Beverage was quickly removed from the mainland market.
Red Bull's prospects are gradually dimming, because the trademark product has been widely recognized, once the right to use, it will face the risk of losing a large number of customers in the market, and this trademark lawsuit is also known by the majority of netizens, people hold diametrically opposed views.
Many netizens began to question the impartiality of Red Bull in China, questioning whether Thailand was too demanding in terms of calculation details. Although it is obviously a win-win cooperation, it has led to such an embarrassing situation for some reason. What's going on here? If you're not willing to work with others, then you might consider taking back those notorious trademarks, which may not be in line with your values?
Considering Red Bull's marketing strategy and popularity in the Chinese market, once it sees a market opportunity, it will not hesitate to cooperate with it alone, but this approach does not fit the authentic business model.
Although there has been a fierce debate on this issue, from multiple perspectives, it is undeniable that trademark rights occupy a crucial position in the current Chinese consumer market, regardless of the type of goods, trademark ownership has attracted much attention.
Such incidents at Red Bull in China are actually a reminder to other companies that if they encounter cooperation with foreign merchants again, they must take active action. If there's a problem with your trademark, don't worry too much. In trademark management, special attention should be paid to the fact that once it is used by others, the slightest carelessness may lead to legal disputes and even suffer from backlash.
In the battle for trademark rights, a high-profile contest between Red Bull in China and Red Bull in Thailand was waged, however, although Red Bull China lost the case, it won widespread sympathy and support, and eventually won.
Through this event, we can get some information from it, that is, the sale of goods is not a simple transaction, but involves complex matters related to goods, such as interests, sales, trademarks, etc.
Therefore, when using the trademark of certain items, we must first carefully examine its patent, so as not to cause the loss of the 10,000-year ship, which can be a loss at best, or involved in a lawsuit, resulting in a double loss of property and reputation.
summary
Before working with other companies, it's important to make it clear in your contract that you shouldn't blindly use advertising to enter the market, as doing so may open up awareness, but it may also be overlooked by other companies