What is behind the Luckin coffee trademark dispute in Thailand?

Thailand's Royal 50R Group has asked a court to order China's Luckin Coffee to pay 100 million baht in damages, arguing that it holds the legally registered Thai trademark and that China Luckin's counterfeit claims disrupted its business plans. On December 1 the Thai court ruled against China Luckin, which says the situation is still being verified.

The dispute traces back to January 2022, when users spotted stores in Thailand copying Luckin's cups, bags and blue deer logo, with the deer head mirrored to face left. China Luckin stated that August that it had opened no stores there and called the outlets counterfeit. The ruling now shapes how the brand can expand and how a coffee store abroad guards its name.

A trademark dispute spanning China and Thailand is continuing to escalate. Thailand's Royal 50R Group has filed a lawsuit with the court, demanding that China's Luckin Coffee pay 100 million baht in economic damages, on the grounds that Thailand's Luckin has legally registered the local trademark, while China Luckin's infringement allegations have hindered its business plans. China Luckin had previously issued a statement claiming that the Thai stores were counterfeit, but on December 1 the Thai court ruled against China Luckin. China Luckin has now responded that the situation remains to be verified. This article will sort out the full picture of the incident, analyze the ins and outs of this trademark dispute, and follow up on subsequent developments.

Recently, multiple Thai media outlets have reported one after another that Thailand's Royal 50R Group (50R group) has formally submitted a complaint to the court, requesting an order that China's Luckin Coffee pay economic damages of as much as 100 million baht. The court has accepted the case. The news quickly sparked widespread attention and climbed onto Weibo's trending list.

Perhaps quite a few onlookers still do not understand the ins and outs of the matter: why is China's Luckin facing 10 billion baht in compensation? Let us now sort out the entire course of events in detail.

The starting point of the matter dates back to January 2022. At that time, a netizen posted a tip-off that Luckin Coffee stores had appeared in Thailand, and their decor style, coffee cups, tote bags and other designs were exactly the same as Luckin's in China, with the only difference being that the little deer图案 in the blue deer-head logo had been mirrored left to right.

The post quickly sparked heated discussion. By August 2022, Luckin Coffee issued a solemn statement, clearly pointing out that Luckin had not opened stores in Thailand and that the Luckin stores appearing in Thailand were counterfeit. The store's use of the "deer looking left" logo and its direct adoption of the name "luckincoffee" had already caused serious damage to the Luckin brand, and the relevant Luckin departments had already handled the matter through legal channels.

According to reports, a subsidiary of Thailand's Royal 50R Group (50R group)—Thailand Luckin Coffee Co., Ltd.—had already legally registered the Luckin trademark with Thailand's business authorities as early as 2022, with all procedures complying with Thai laws and regulations, and was approved to use the trademark to operate coffee shop businesses such as tea and coffee. At present, the brand has opened more than ten coffee shops in Thailand.

Therefore, on December 1, Thailand's Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court announced that the final judgment had been delivered in the case in which China's Luckin Coffee Company accused Thailand's Royal 50R Group (50R group) of trademark copyright infringement, ruling that China's Luckin Coffee Company lost the case, to be enforced immediately.

Subsequently, Thailand's Royal 50R Group submitted a lawsuit to the court. In its complaint, it stated that China's Luckin had seriously damaged 50R Group's commercial reputation. The group had originally planned to expand its stores to more than 10,000 worldwide and was preparing for a listing, but because of Luckin's actions the original plan was interrupted, causing it serious economic losses. In addition, before the court had made a final judgment, an authorized agent had unlawfully seized property in 50R Group's coffee shops without authorization, causing it humiliation and losses. At the same time, because of China Luckin's allegations, 50R Group had to spend money hiring professional lawyers and consultants, and demanded compensation for the costs thus incurred, with total claims amounting to 10 billion baht (about 2 billion RMB).

In response, netizens discussed it heatedly, saying things like "Heavens, there is even this kind of操作?" "Mirror symmetry," "Thai outrageous."

However, China Luckin's official Weibo has now responded to the matter of Thailand Luckin's claim for 10 billion baht, saying that the situation still needs to be verified. The response was followed by a sentence in Thai, which translates as "I don't understand it, but I am greatly shocked!"

It may be that Luckin's trademark was not registered in Thailand, which led to this loss in court. As for the follow-up development of this incident, let us wait for further news.

Image source: Internet

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.