Red Bull is one of the most successful beverage brands in China. For 20 years, it has monopolized the top position of functional drinks without challenge. It has more than 3 million sales points across the country and is one of the most powerful commercial networks in the world. In 2015, its revenue surpassed that of Coca-Cola, reaching 23.07 billion yuan, making it the number one selling beverage in China. However, it hasn't been peaceful lately. The merger of China Red Bull and Thailand Red Bull is currently at an impasse as the 20-year trademark license expires at the end of 2016. Red Bull was created by Xu Shubiao from Thailand. The company he founded in 1966 gave birth to Red Bull. Because Red Bull sold so much in Thailand, Xu Shubiao once became the second richest man in Thailand. The Red Bull brand has natural advantages. As can be seen from its name, "Red" and "Ox" are full of power and energy, which is in line with consumers' perception of energy. In addition, Red Bull's brand story and background map actually represent Muay Thai, which itself is a relatively intense boxing style that represents unparalleled energy.

Therefore, its brand name and brand positioning are very prominent, filling the gap in functional drinks at that time, and it is easy to achieve success in marketing. Chinese Red Bull was launched 11 years later than Austrian Red Bull. In 1984, Yan Bin established Reignwood Group in Thailand and officially launched Red Bull through authorized management. Red Bull officially entered China in 1995. In December 1995, Chinese businessman Yan Bin owned the rights to operate the Red Bull brand in China, built a factory in Shenzhen, and established Red Bull Energy Drink Co., Ltd. The advertisement after the Spring Festival Gala "Red Bull Comes to China" attracted the attention of the Chinese people. Subsequently, China Red Bull continued to broadcast advertisements during prime time on TV stations, "I want to drink Red Bull?" and "Drink Red Bull when thirsty, drink Red Bull when tired and sleepy" are deeply rooted in people's hearts.

After the trademark license expired, China Red Bull fell into a passive position. Until 2016, it was reported that Huabin Group was in a deadlock when its trademark authorization expired, and renewal negotiations were deadlocked. While Chinese Red Bull is spreading all over China, Austrian Red Bull is expanding its territory in the international market. It can be said that Austrian Red Bull has truly pioneered the Red Bull brand in the international market, with footprints in 168 countries around the world, and is the real "King of Beverages". From the perspective of trademark licensing, China Red Bull and Austrian Red Bull are both licensees of the Thai Red Bull trademark. They are two parallel lines that will never intersect. They all performed well in their respective fields. However, this is not the case. On the one hand, China Red Bull has taken advantage of the brand influence established by Austrian Red Bull in the world, misleading consumers to a certain extent that two Red Bulls are equivalent to one Red Bull. In particular, when China Red Bull also launches drinks with similar decoration and packaging as Austrian Red Bull, and adopts similar marketing strategies as Austrian Red Bull (mainly referring to sponsoring sports events and sports teams), as consumers, they will inevitably misunderstand that It is the domestic version of Austrian Red Bull.

On the other hand, Austrian Red Bull entered China in March 2014 and has been "lurking" and "making great strides forward". Austrian Red Bull entered China and established Reboot Beverage Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. It can be said that Austrian Red Bull is "silent" in the Chinese market. It hasn't done much marketing, branding, channel expansion and team development, and sales have been lukewarm. At the end of 2016, China Red Bull’s trademark license will expire. When the "cows" of Thai Red Bull, Austrian Red Bull and Chinese Red Bull were all sitting at the negotiating table, the "truth" seemed to emerge. Of course, outsiders cannot check all the details of the talks, but judging from the news, China Red Bull is indeed very passive. If the trademark license cannot be extended, the Chinese Red Bull market may be taken over by Austrian Red Bull. If the trademark authorization continues, China Red Bull may give up a lot of benefits, and Austrian Red Bull will naturally get a share of the pie. This is not a one-time thing, but an ongoing "sharing". How can companies prefer trademark transfer? In the specific case of Red Bull trademark licensing, the possibility that it would choose to transfer the trademark is also very small.