What Does the Coffee Full Form Question Miss Here?

Signs at several former Lucky Cup stores in Zhengzhou now read Lucky Mug, while the red decor and king-of-spades logo stay the same as the original brand. The chain has not responded, and customers report the two are easy to confuse from the street. The change appeared during a period of aggressive low-price campaigns in the coffee market.

Observers suggest the switch may be a defensive trademark move, since a registered mark can be challenged after three consecutive years without use. Mixue Bingcheng is headquartered in Zhengzhou, which added to speculation online. For consumers, the practical question is whether a store is the original brand or a separate operation using similar branding.

The coffee market is in the thick of a 9.9 yuan price war, but Lucky Cup has taken a different path by launching a 6.6 yuan campaign, attracting many budget-conscious consumers. However, some netizens in Zhengzhou discovered that the signs of certain former Lucky Cup stores had actually changed to "Lucky Cup," yet the decor style and the king-of-spades logo were completely identical to Lucky Cup, making it hard to tell at a glance whether it was a rebrand or a counterfeit. Since Mixue Bingcheng's headquarters is located in Zhengzhou and the company has not responded, netizens have speculated that this may be a defensive move by the brand to prevent its registered trademark from being revoked due to three consecutive years of non-use. What exactly is the trademark strategy behind the name change? And how should consumers view it?

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Right now, the coffee market's 9.9 yuan price war is raging, and even the normally aloof Starbucks has quietly lowered its prices to join the fray. But Lucky Cup, known for its low prices, has taken a different route this time, carving out its own "6.6 yuan" lane and pushing coffee prices down another notch.

After the campaign launched, many budget-conscious consumers were drawn in, and the quickest to act headed straight to the nearest store to spend 6.6 yuan on a cup and enjoy the thrill.

But when customers walked into a Lucky Cup store and looked up, they froze—the sign overhead read "Lucky Cup"! The surroundings were clearly familiar, yet the sign seemed to remind them they had gone to the wrong place. "Am I seeing things?? Isn't this called Lucky Cup??" "Did it change its name? Wasn't it originally called Lucky Cup?"

It is understood that this "Lucky Cup" coffee shop is located in Zhengzhou, Henan, and the location was originally a Lucky Cup store of the chain brand. Moreover, there is already more than one "Lucky Cup" coffee shop in Zhengzhou.

These stores are all decorated mainly in red, and the "king-of-spades" logo on the signs is exactly the same as the Lucky Cup trademark. The only difference is the store name. Consumers say that if you don't look carefully at the sign and just look at the store's exterior, it is easy to confuse the two.

The sudden appearance of "Lucky Cup" coffee has left fans very confused. Lucky Cup is a well-known chain coffee brand under Mixue Bingcheng, and Mixue Bingcheng's headquarters is located in Zhengzhou, Henan. If someone dared to blatantly counterfeit Lucky Cup in Zhengzhou, the head company could not possibly be unaware.

Therefore, judging from the fact that the official side has not responded, these "Lucky Cup" stores are probably not the high-end knockoff stores that fans feared. But even so, netizens are even more puzzled: although "Lucky Cup" sounds very down-to-earth, "Lucky Cup" has already been widely spread, so why would the brand suddenly change its name for no reason?

In fact, when registering trademarks, brands usually register all names similar to the brand name as their own trademarks. For example, the well-known brand Lao Gan Ma owns similar trademarks such as "Lao Qian Ma" and "Lao Yi Ma." This can prevent people with ulterior motives from using similar names to counterfeit and plagiarize products after the brand becomes popular, infringing on its brand and trademark.

However, according to the Trademark Law, if a registered trademark is not used for three consecutive years without justified reasons, any unit or individual may apply to the Trademark Office to revoke the registered trademark. Therefore, some netizens speculate that the reason these directly operated stores changed their names to "Lucky Cup" recently may be that the brand wanted to avoid unused trademarks being canceled.

However, although netizens understand the brand's good intentions, many consumers say it is still hard to accept seeing a familiar store name change. Netizens suggest that these renamed directly operated stores might put up a statement in front of the store to prevent uninformed people from questioning the authenticity of the stores.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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