Recently, with the publication of the civil judgment of the second instance (hereinafter referred to as the "judgment"), the trademark battle of "Laoshan" between Qingdao Laoshan mineral water Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qingdao laokuang") and Qingdao laokuang Health Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "laokuang health") for more than one year came to an end.

Qingdao laokuang is one of the shareholders of laokuang health, with a shareholding ratio of 40.8%. Why did the two enterprises with such close relationship go to court?

White Snake grass water produced by Qingdao laokuang mine

Trademark dispute of "net red drink"

Laoshan White Snake grass water, also known as snake grass health water, is an alkaline drink developed by Qingdao laokuang in the early 1960s. For a long time, white snake grass water has been nicknamed "the most difficult water in history" and "the top 1 dark series drink" by netizens with its unique taste, and has become a "net celebrity" in the beverage industry.

Recently, due to the trademark dispute between Qingdao laokuang and laokuang health, this online red product has once again entered the public's view.

In 2021, Qingdao laokuang took laokuang health and donglao water industry to court on the ground that the products and packaging of white snake grass water (enhanced type) produced by laokuang health and donglao water industry infringed their trademark rights. Laokuang health and donglao water industry refused to accept the civil judgment (2021) Lu 02 min Chu No. 276 of Qingdao intermediate people's Court of Shandong Province, and appealed to Shandong Higher People's court. On May 23 this year, the Shandong Provincial Higher People's Court concluded the trial and issued a judgment on June 20.

The judgment shows that, without the permission of the trademark registrant, the use of a trademark similar to its registered trademark on the same kind of goods, or the use of a trademark identical or similar to its registered trademark on similar goods, which is likely to cause confusion, is an infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark.

"After years of continuous publicity and use, the trademark involved in Qingdao laokuang has gained high popularity and influence. The alleged infringing product, white snake grass water beverage, is the same as the approved commodity category of the trademark involved." The judgment shows that after comparison, the mountain shaped logo used by the alleged infringing product and the trademark involved in Qingdao laokuang are similar in terms of both the graphic composition and the overall structure after the combination of various elements. Considering the popularity of the trademark involved, the court of first instance held that it was not improper for laokuang health to infringe the trademark rights involved in Qingdao laokuang.

This trademark dispute was triggered by the "ward laokuang" green bottle enhanced White Snake grass water produced by laokuang health.

The investigation found that there were two versions of the green bottle White Snake grass water on the market. One version is produced by Qingdao laokuang, with the trademark of "river in the middle of mountains on both sides". The official website of Qingdao laokuang shows that this green bottle product is exported. The other version is "ward laokuang" White Snake grass water (enhanced) produced by laokuang health.

"Wodlaokuang" White Snake grass water (enhanced) produced by laokuang health

It is understood that before February 2021, the green bottle enhanced White Snake grass water produced by laokuang health used the logo of "the river between the peaks on both sides". Since then, the product not only has a great change in the pattern trademark, but also has a very obvious word "wodlao mine". In 2021, the staff of laokuang health No. 1 said in an interview with Qingdao media that "some problems occurred between the two enterprises. In order to avoid affecting the normal production of products, the packaging was changed."

The reporter visited the major supermarkets, community convenience supermarkets and convenience stores in Jinan and found that at present, only the Laoshan White Snake grass water produced by Qingdao laokuang is available for sale, but the "wodlaokuang" white flower snake grass water (enhanced type) is not found. In the major online shopping platforms, the reporter has not found the official sales channel of this product.

Just because of changing the production date?

According to the public information, Qingdao laokuang was originally Qingdao Soda water factory, which was founded in 1905. It is the earliest mineral water production enterprise in China and belongs to Qingdao beverage group.

Laokuang health was established on July 11, 2018. It is a Sino foreign joint venture limited liability company. The total contribution of the parties to the joint venture is 18 million yuan, which is the registered capital of the joint venture company. Among them, Lanzhi biotechnology group of the United States (hereinafter referred to as "Lanzhi company") contributed 8.82 million yuan, accounting for 49% of the registered capital. Qingdao laokuang contributed 9.18 million yuan, accounting for 51% of the registered capital. At the beginning of the establishment of the enterprise, Qingdao laokuang is the actual controller of laokuang health.

In March 2018, Qingdao Beverage Group announced the strategic cooperation with langzhi company in the United States at the "new and old kinetic energy conversion strategy signing and new product release conference" held by Qingdao beverage group, saying that "it will closely follow the development trend of the world beverage industry, follow the concept of" medicine and food are the same source ", and rely on the professional research and development team of the United States to produce new products of plant herbal functional composite drinks with international standards."

After the establishment of Qingdao laokuang health, when entrusting Qingdao laokuang to process relevant products, it used the graphic trademark of "river in the middle of mountains on both sides" on the packaging. Although this was not authorized by Qingdao laokuang, Qingdao laokuang, under comprehensive consideration, temporarily acquiesced in its unauthorized use.

In July 2020, laokuang health was caught on the spot by Qingdao Laoshan district market supervision and Administration Bureau for changing the production date of subpackaged Chlorella granules without authorization and planned to impose administrative punishment. It is the illegal operation of laokuang health that makes Qingdao laokuang think that the market satisfaction and credibility of brand related products have been affected. "It has seriously damaged the reputation of Qingdao laokuang and Qingdao laokuang, and caused extremely bad impact on its normal production and operation activities."

In order to reduce the damage caused by this incident, Qingdao laokuang asked laokuang health to change the enterprise name in time, rectify immediately and compensate for the losses. It also sent letters many times, demanding that laokuang health immediately stop using the brand name, trademark, graphics and words of Qingdao laokuang and remove the relevant products from the shelves. However, laokuang health always refused to take corresponding actions, which infringed the exclusive right of Qingdao laokuang registered trademark. After that, Qingdao laokuang filed a lawsuit against laokuang health.

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