What happened in the Starbucks coffee service franchise case?

Shanghai Qingpu police dismantled a gang that ran a counterfeit franchise scheme under the name Starbucks Coffee Service, arresting 17 suspects led by Yin. Involved funds exceeded 40 million yuan. The group recruited franchisees nationwide, falsely claiming official authorization and guiding them to open counterfeit coffee stores.

The case began in November 2023, when merchant Yang reported signing a franchise contract in May 2023 and receiving a lawyer's letter from Starbucks two months into operation. A unified arrest followed on January 15, 2024, exposing a chain spanning manufacturing, warehousing, training, and marketing consulting.

A counterfeit trademark case involving a well-known coffee brand with over 40 million yuan in involved funds was recently successfully cracked by Shanghai Qingpu police. The criminal gang recruited franchisees nationwide under the name "Starbucks Coffee Service," falsely claiming official franchise qualifications and guiding the opening of counterfeit stores. In January 2024, police launched a unified operation, arresting 17 suspects led by Yin. The case exposed a complete criminal chain from production and manufacturing, warehousing and transportation, to business training and marketing consulting, and also sounded an anti-fraud alarm for investors in the franchise chain sector.

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On March 1, Shanghai Qingpu police successfully dismantled a criminal gang counterfeiting the registered trademark of a well-known coffee brand during the "Sharp Sword 2024" special operation, arresting 17 suspects in total, with involved funds exceeding 40 million yuan.

The clue to the case traces back to November 2023. At that time, Qingpu police received a report from Mr. Yang, a merchant from another province or city. Mr. Yang said that in May 2023 he saw an advertisement for "Starbucks Coffee Service," which claimed to provide full assistance from store opening to operation, so he signed a franchise contract. However, after only two months of operation, the store received a lawyer's letter from Starbucks stating that the store was suspected of trademark infringement. Subsequently, Mr. Yang chose to call the police.

Based on the clues provided by the reporter and after verification and confirmation with the brand company, Qingpu police conducted investigation, screening, analysis, and assessment of stores suspected of infringing trademarks, and a criminal network chain integrating production and manufacturing, warehousing and transportation, business training, and marketing consulting gradually emerged.

On January 15, 2024, Shanghai Qingpu police launched a unified arrest operation, destroyed the criminal gang led by Yin in another province or city, and arrested 17 criminal suspects.

(Photo of the reporting person Mr. Yang's store)

According to investigation by Shanghai police, from May 2023 to the present, Yin and Zhang, for illegal profit, without authorization from the brand company, falsely claimed externally under the name "Starbucks Coffee Service" that they had franchise qualifications for the coffee shop, and recruited franchisees online with a franchise fee of 100,000 yuan per store.

After reaching a franchise agreement, they instructed franchisees to use trademarks and logos related to the coffee shop to open and operate counterfeit coffee stores across the country. During this period, Yin and Zhang recruited 15 people including Chen, Gong, and Feng to be responsible for financial management, advertising design, procurement and warehousing, marketing promotion, and business training.

As of the time the case was uncovered, more than 50 coffee stores had been opened nationwide, with cumulative involved funds reaching 40 million yuan.

On February 8, 2024, criminal suspect Yin and 8 others were approved for arrest by the Shanghai Qingpu District People's Procuratorate on suspicion of the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks, and 8 people including Wei were subjected to criminal compulsory measures by Qingpu police in accordance with the law. The case is under further handling.

According to Article 213 of the Criminal Law, whoever, without the permission of the owner of a registered trademark, uses a trademark identical to its registered trademark on the same kind of goods or services, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, and shall also or only be fined; if the circumstances are especially serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined.

Police stated that the next step will be to continue digging deeper and expanding the investigation, striving to strike at the chain and the source, and comprehensively and severely crack down on such illegal and criminal acts. At the same time, they remind the general public to remain vigilant and think rationally when investing online or joining franchise chains, and to choose regular and qualified partners. They may log on to the public government websites of departments such as commerce and industry and information technology to check the registration status of relevant websites and companies, and learn about their business qualifications, business scope, operating conditions, and other information.

In addition, police also remind investors not to take chances by participating in such investments, and even more not to fantasize about "getting rich overnight," so as to avoid falling into the fraud traps of lawbreakers.

Image source: Internet

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