During the trial, the attorney of Jiaduobao said that the packaging of the red herbal tea can was designed by Chen Hongdao, the chairman of Hongdao Group, the parent company of Jiaduobao, and applied for patent 1997. Jiaduobao has the right to decorate the red cans.
In view of this, I made some detailed investigations. In fact, Wang Laoji was already a well-known brand long before he was authorized to produce and sell Wang Laoji herbal tea to Hongdao Group, and it was clearly stipulated in the trademark licensing contract that Hongdao was authorized to produce and sell Wang Laoji herbal tea in red cans and bottles. In addition, Chen Hongdao's argument that he designed the patent is unconvincing because he absconded on bail and could not prove it.
In addition, Hongdao Group, as a trademark lessor, bypasses the trademark owner Guangyao and directly applies for a design patent, which is illegal. Moreover, the patent is valid for ten years, and the patent on the red can patent design certificate provided by Jiaduobao has expired and has no legal effect.
It can be seen that the battle of red cans, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical wins the law, and Jiaduobao has gone.
However, this red can dispute, known as "the first case of packaging and decoration in China", is far more significant than winning or losing, and it has extremely distinct educational significance in enhancing the awareness of intellectual property protection of enterprises.