What Does the Ultraman Cafe Ruling Mean for the Coffee Industry?

A Suzhou coffee shop that decorated its space with Ultraman characters was sued by the intellectual property licensee, which sought 1 million yuan. The court found the shop infringed exhibition, reproduction, distribution, and information network dissemination rights, and also engaged in unfair competition, ordering 400,000 yuan in damages.

The shop, open since 2022, played the Ultraman Tiga theme song and displayed figurines, cards, albums, and posters, plus drinks and desserts named after Ultraman elements. The case stands as a compliance warning for the coffee industry: themed features tied to well-known characters need legal authorization, even in a specialty coffee setting, before they are used commercially.

A popular Ultraman-themed coffee shop in Suzhou, Jiangsu, was sued by the intellectual property licensee for unauthorized extensive use of Ultraman elements, with a claim of 1 million yuan. The court ruled that the shop infringed on exhibition rights, reproduction rights, distribution rights, and information network dissemination rights, and also constituted unfair competition, ultimately awarding 400,000 yuan in damages. This case serves as a wake-up call for intellectual property compliance in the coffee industry, reminding shop owners to obtain legal authorization when creating themed features.

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Recently, according to Red Star News, a popular coffee shop in Suzhou, Jiangsu, was sued in court and faced a claim of one million yuan for allegedly infringing on Ultraman-related intellectual property.

It is understood that this coffee shop, with "Ultraman" elements visible everywhere inside, attracted a large number of tokusatsu fans to check in and consume. According to customers who visited, the shop looped the theme song "Miracle Reappears" from *Ultraman Tiga* and displayed various Ultraman-themed figurines, cards, picture albums, and posters as decorations.

Here, customers can not only closely admire various Ultraman merchandise collected by the owner, but also enjoy drinks and desserts named after Ultraman elements, as well as purchase derivative goods such as fridge magnets and cards. For fans, this place is like a "small Ultraman museum." Whether it is children who have just encountered Ultraman or veteran fans who have followed the series for years, once they step inside, they linger and cannot take their eyes off it.

However, the licensee of the intellectual property rights for the Ultraman series artistic images and elements recently took the coffee shop to court, demanding that it stop copyright infringement and unfair competition, and pay a total of 1 million yuan for reasonable expenses and economic losses.

After trial, the local court found that the registered trademark "Ultraman" has high visibility and a long duration in fields such as animation and toys, possesses broad influence in the market, and has been recognized as a well-known trademark by an effective judgment. According to information on a certain platform, the defendant coffee shop began operating in 2022 and, relying on its superior location, large customer flow, and broad consumer group, accumulated more than 3,000 favorites on a third-party platform alone.

However, investigation showed that the defendant coffee shop did not obtain authorization from the copyright holder when using "Ultraman" elements, and continued operating even after receiving the court summons. Even on the day of the hearing, when the judge entered the shop's mini-program, the shop name still contained the words "Ultraman"; only after the hearing ended did the mini-program cease operation.

As the rights holder, the plaintiff stated that it had previously licensed a third party to open an "Ultraman" themed shop, with a trademark and image use period of 41 days and a fee of 150,000 yuan; in addition, the rights holder also charged a copyright usage fee for food and beverages at 10% of total retail sales. But the defendant coffee shop never paid any related fees.

During the hearing, the defendant argued that after 2022 the shop was almost unable to operate in practice and was in a state of serious loss, but a review software showed that from 2022 to 2024 consumer reviews reached more than 300.

The court held after trial that the defendant, without the rights holder's permission, made Ultraman images into large background walls in the physical shop, displayed large amounts of Ultraman and monster merchandise, printed Ultraman heads on takeaway cups, and engaged in other acts that infringed the plaintiff's exhibition rights, reproduction rights, distribution rights, and information network dissemination rights.

At the same time, the shop played the theme song of a tokusatsu series as background music, and its sold products, mini-program, and other items all carried Ultraman elements, making it easy for consumers to mistakenly believe that the products sold were associated with Ultraman, or even that the shop was an authorized themed shop. This demonstrated an intent to free-ride on goodwill, disrupted market competition order, and constituted unfair competition.

Although the defendant coffee shop had already stopped the infringing acts, it still needed to compensate the plaintiff for economic losses and reasonable expenses incurred to stop the infringement. Therefore, the court ruled in accordance with the law that the defendant coffee shop pay the plaintiff 400,000 yuan for economic losses and reasonable expenses.

Image source: Red Star News, Xiaohongshu

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