December 29, 2011, three days after the end of the year, for Yang Aixing, vice president of Jiaduobao Group, was not only a court hearing for a complaint, but also a trial that lasted for a whole day. The trademark dispute that has lasted for many years has come to an end.

On this day, the Chinese trademark case 'Wanglaoji' trademark case was opened at the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission. One is the owner of the Wonglaoji trademark, and the other is the lessor who has made Wonglaoji a household name in ten years. With the trademark rights of 108 billion yuan, Jiaduobao and GPHL launched a nearly 5-hour debate. It is reported that the arbitration results will not be announced until almost 2 months or as long as half a year later.

While the outside world is speculating on the final outcome of this case, some industry experts say that GPHL’s intention to force Jiaduobao to go out is already clear. After the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman will benefit. After the collapse of 'Wanglaoji', known as the national beverage can, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola will monopolize the Chinese beverage market. Therefore, it is recommended that the two parties reconcile and jointly promote the Wonglaoji brand to the international market. Good results.

Jiaduobao's new evidence strongly refutes the 'bribery theory'

After the protracted Wonglaoji "red and green dispute" officially opened, the focus of the debate was whether the Wonglaoji trademark contract expired in 2010 The period still expires in 2020.

When it comes to the dispute between red and green Wong Lo Kat, there is a detour that Li Yimin cannot avoid. Previously, GPHL had always believed that Hong Kong Hongdao Group had bribed Li Yimin, then general manager of GPHL, to obtain the right to renew the Wong Lo Kat trademark for 10 years.

Unexpectedly, new evidence on the day of the trial showed that Jiaduobao produced the Wanglaoji trademark sale agreement signed with Jiaduobao at that time, in which the signatory was not Li Yimin, the former executive of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, but the then Guangzhou Pharmaceutical. Cai Zhixiang, chairman of the group. This means that the trademark authorization that GPHL had previously accused Jiaduobao of bribing former general manager Li Yimin became meaningless.

In addition, Jiaduobao also submitted some relevant evidence to the court on how Jiaduobao builds and maintains the Wanglaoji brand. In contrast, GPHL, in addition to showing the outside world the loopholes in the contract, In addition to the evidence and constant emphasis that Jiaduobao’s ownership of the Wanglaoji trademark expired in May 2010, GPHL has yet to bring a clear conclusion to the public.

What is the purpose of GPHL’s bitter confrontation?

For a long time, as the trademark licensor, GPHL and Jiaduobao lived in peace, until Jiaduobao let this unknown company After the Guangdong brand became popular all over the country, the two sides have been in constant confrontation in recent years. While enjoying the results of Jiaduobao's management of the 'Wanglaoji' brand, GPHL pushed Jiaduobao to court, making Wonglaoji the brand of the year. A popular FMCG brand.

At the same time, an insider of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical said that in addition to licensing external brands, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical will also expand the independent operation of the Wonglaoji brand. According to him, the company's big health industry strategy now mainly revolves around the Wonglaoji brand. , and Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical is positioned by the group to implement the strategic layout of the health industry of "food + drugs", so in the future more independently operated products of the Wanglaoji brand will be launched on this platform. '

Faced with the increasing pressure of GPHL, Yang Aixing, vice president of Jiaduobao Group, told the media many times that GPHL would use the Wanglaoji trademark to span the beverage industry and even the food industry. Blindly diversified development is not in line with the brand connotation of Wanglaoji, which has been focused on the production of herbal tea for a hundred years.

‘It is unlikely that the two parties will reach reconciliation in the future. If the arbitration fails to meet our requirements, it will be impossible for the two parties to negotiate.’ A senior executive of GPHL in charge of the case said in an interview with a media outlet.

Who benefited from the collapse of Wong Lao Kat

'Herbal tea beverages have become one of the fastest growing categories in the FMCG industry in recent years. Currently, Wong Lao Kat has annual sales of more than 15 billion yuan. , has firmly occupied half of China's herbal tea beverage market, and has become a national brand that competes with Coke. GPHL's hard work may have hidden reasons, but it will bring down a century-old brand and allow Coke to monopolize Chinese beverages. market. ’ Commentator Yuxiang expressed concern.

‘They are born from the same roots, so there is no need to rush into conflict. ’ Recently, in a survey on ‘The sad Chinese drink in your heart’ launched by Baidu, Wong Lo Kat was selected as the sad Chinese drink with more than half of the votes.

During the survey, some netizens commented: ‘Can’t China become a world brand? How can we be embarrassed to be hurt by our own siblings when we are about to leave the country? ’, which received strong comments from many netizens.

Le Yun, a special commentator for Global Network and Sohu.com, believes that this is a commercial game where the snipe and the clam are fighting, and the fisherman will benefit, because the battle will undoubtedly hurt the Wanglaoji brand, and it will naturally fall into the trap. Later, the big competitor tried to alienate him! '

Obviously, the battle between Jiaduobao Company and GPHL for the Wonglaoji trademark has made the future direction of the red can of Wonglaoji a mystery. No matter what the final result is, anyone with a discerning eye can see that it is the Chinese people who are hurt. National beverage brand.

'Considering that the Wong Lao Kat brand belongs to different holders at home and abroad, whether it is Jiaduobao entering the mainland or GPHL going abroad, when it comes to the global business interests of the national brand Wong Lo Kat, both parties will benefit from cooperation. Benefit and division will cause damage to both sides. ’ Regarding the brand dispute between the two parties, Duan Junfeng, an intellectual property lawyer at Beijing Bangdao Law Firm, pointed out the best solution.