Chinese tea chain Molly Tea has been ordered to pay Louis Vuitton 10.3 million yuan (US$1.5 million) in damages for the unauthorised use of a logo similar to the French luxury brand’s four-petalled floral monogram.
The Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, ruled this week that Shenzhen-based Molly Tea must pay the amount within 10 days. It said the compensation in the trademark infringement lawsuit included 10 million yuan for economic losses and 300,000 yuan for reasonable litigation expenses. Molly Tea’s said it planned to file an appeal. Louis Vuitton declined to comment.
Molly Tea has updated the logo displayed on its mini-program, switching from a black-and-white version to a coloured one.
The court also ordered Molly Tea to post a statement on the homepages of its six official accounts – on its website and mini-program and on the Weibo, WeChat, RedNote and Douyin social media platforms – to eliminate the negative impact of the infringement.
This civil case was filed on May 15 last year, according to Tianyancha, a Chinese corporate information provider.
The China National Intellectual Property Administration said trademark applications filed by Molly Tea in 2024 were rejected and placed under review
It said Louis Vuitton had registered its monogram pattern in China.
The lawsuit has sparked heated online debate in China. Some postings on Weibo said the two brands operated in different industries or that comparable patterns were used in ancient China, but many said the logo immediately reminded them of Louis Vuitton.
Founded in 2021, Molly Tea said it now operates more than 2,000 stores around the world, with overseas outlets in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.
Source SCMP
