Yan Bin's Red Bull Defense War

"China Economic Weekly" reporter Li Yonghua | Beijing report

The battle of Zhongtai Red Bull, which lasted 6 years, is getting worse.

Since 2016, the two parties have set off a warfare war on trademarks, dividends, and equity, and are now more and more fierce. Thailand's intensive launch of infringement lawsuits "encirclement" Chinese Red Bulls, its suppliers, dealers and other upstream and downstream companies in the country has affected the entire industrial chain.

Chinese Red Bull took out the "50 Years of Agreement" signed in the 1990s that the "50 -year" Agreement "accused that Thai Tiaisi moved to tear the contract and rejected the meaning.

More than 20 years ago, as the founder of Chinese Red Bull, Yan Bin bet all his net worth, and pushed the silent Red Bull brand to the first national functional beverage brand with his own power, but now he is facing a dispute over infringement.

He said publicly: After 20 years, some people want to pick peaches.

Suppliers and dealers in the vortex of litigation

"The world of the Red Bull in the Chinese market was made by the Chinese Red Bulls. Now it is done. Thailand came out to say that Chinese Red Bull infringement, then why don't you say when you are in a hard time to fight the market?" Chinese Red Bull's packaging can supply Guan Yuxiang, the founder of Shang Ourin.

Since 2016, Thai Silk and its affiliated companies have launched a large -scale infringement lawsuit across the country, and extended war fire to Chinese Red Bull manufacturers, suppliers, dealers, etc., which led to the large capital accounts of these companies. The scale frozen and the behavior of behavior preservation are made, and there is a great trend of comprehensive "encirclement".

Guan Yuxiang's listed company Orekin was also sued in court by Thailand, asking him to stop the manufacturing and sales of Red Bull trademarks, and applied for the court to freeze more than 240 million yuan of assets in Orekin.

"Fortunately, we are a listed company and can carry it. If a small company has been ruined." Guan Yuxiang said an interview with the China Economic Weekly, but the relevant lawsuit has led to the evaporation of Orekin's market value.

Relevant lawsuits are still under trial, and the final judgment results have not been known, but under the scale of Tiaisi in Thailand, Chinese Red Bull and upstream and downstream companies that are closely related to them are undoubtedly huge.

"Without these interferences, the sales of Chinese Red Bull will have spent 30 billion yuan a long time." Zhang Lei, president of Chinese Red Bull Legal, told China Economic Weekly.

In 2015, sales reached 23 billion yuan, which was the highest value of Chinese Red Bull. After 2016, the Chinese Red Bull, which was bondled, fell into a stagnation of growth, and its annual sales were hovering between 19 billion and 23 billion yuan. On the average annual high -speed growth of 15%and a functional beverage track that has been turned in 4 to 5 years, as a leading boss who accounts for 87%of the market share, the Chinese Red Bull has almost been in place in the past six years.

Taking its Fujian regional market as an example, "If there is no lawsuit, the sales scale of Fujian area will be 1.3 billion to 1.5 billion yuan, but it can only stabilize the scale of 1 billion yuan." Lin Li, general manager of the Chinese Red Bull Fujian region, told " China Economic Weekly, Thai Tiansi also filed a lawsuit against Red Bull in Fujian.

"Part of the infringement lawsuit against the Chinese Red Bull, and the other is specifically targeted at dealers. In Chaoyang District, Beijing, Changsha, Hunan, Nanchang, Jiangxi, Fuzhou Fujian, etc., they have initiated a lawsuit against dealers." Chinese Red Bull dealers brought great pressure and trouble.

In Zhang Lei's view, under the premise of whether Chinese Red Bull's infringement is not certain, it should not be initiated against dealers. "If they think they are infringing by manufacturers, they should find manufacturers, not to put pressure on dealers."

Today, more than 20 years ago, the dealers did not expect, and Yan Bin did not expect.

More than 20 years ago, Chinese companies excluded obstacles, and Red Bulls entered the Chinese market

Pull the time back to the 1990s.

According to media reports, Mr. Xu Shubiao, a Thai Chinese, returned to Hainan to invest in construction in 1993, hoping to make the production and sales of Red Bull beverages in China. But at that time, because the Red Bull contained a large amount of caffeine and other control ingredients, Xu Shubiao's wholly -owned foreign company could not obtain production approval. At the same time, the trademark of the "bullfighting" pattern required for Red Bull drinks has been registered by Zhejiang Jinhua Bull Fighting Center. The red bull trademark cannot be registered, and Hainan Red Bull has always been difficult to put into production.

In early 1995, Yan Bin reached a cooperation with Xu Bin under the recommendation of the Thai Deputy Prime Minister's Palace. Yan Bin also brought two state -owned enterprises, China Food Industry Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "China Food Company"), Shenzhen Zhonghao (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhonghao Company"). The Red Bull of Thailand signed a letter of intent, agreed that the shareholders of China Thailand set up a joint venture Chinese Red Bull to produce Red Bull beverages.

Subsequently, China Food Company organized a Chinese expert demonstration meeting to submit the adjusted improved Red Bull formula to the original Ministry of Health. In September 1995, the former Ministry of Health approved that China Food Company produced "vitamin functional beverages", and Red Bull drinks finally got legal identity in China. Judging from the approval of the former Ministry of Health, the production license is clearly approved to CIMC. As a shareholder, China Food Company puts this franchise license into a joint venture. Soon after, Zhonghao Company also signed the "Three -Party Agreement on Transfer of Jinhua's" Bull Fighting "trademark" with Zhejiang Jinhua Bullet Fighting Center, and purchased the "bull fighting" trademark on "trademark ownership" on 32 categories of juice, soda, and milk tea. China Food Company solved the problem of production permits, and Zhonghao Company broke through the obstacles of the Chinese Red Bull registered trademark.

According to media reports, in November 1995, the shareholders of China and Thailand and the establishment of a joint venture company signed a 50 -year cooperation "Agreement", which clarified the exclusive operating right of Chinese Red Bull production and sales of Red Bull drinks; Chinese Red Bulls to Thailand Tiansi Payment of flavors and spices, fixed returns to the payment of 3%of the payment, etc., the agreement is valid for 50 years.

At the same time, the shareholders of both China and Thailand also signed a "joint venture contract", including three of the agreement on trademark rights and obligations: Article 14 stipulates that "the obligation to provide trademarks in Thailand with a trademark"; Article 19 stipulates " The trademark of the product's product is part of the assets of the joint venture "; Article 37 stipulates that" if the joint venture contract is terminated in advance, Zhonghao has the right to continue to use the red bull trademark. "

Therefore, from the perspective of many people in Chinese Red Bull and upstream and downstream Chinese companies, the production approval was won by Chinese -funded enterprises. The bull -fighting trademark was bought by Chinese -funded enterprises.

In 1996, the joint venture company China Red Bull's first pot of Red Bull beverage products went offline. The trademarks used include three elements: the trademark "bull figure" element purchased by Zhonghao Company, plus the Chinese simplified Chinese character "Red Bull" (unmanned registered), And the "Red Bull" element held by Thai Silk.

After buying a "bullfighting" trademark in Zhonghao Company, Thailand's original application for registered trademarks (including bullfights) who could not obtain registration (including bullfighting maps) was also registered. This laid hidden dangers for the trademark rights of the two sides 20 years later.

In the case where the Red Bull requesting the Red Bull trademark was confirmed, the Supreme Law in 2020 was not enough to support the evidence submitted by the Chinese Red Bull at the time to support the claim of the Red Bull series trademark right holders and rejected its claim.

At that time, the Chinese Red Bull failed to provide the original "Agreement". The Supreme Law in the above -mentioned verdict was not identified as the authenticity of the 50 -year "Agreement" with "no question". It was not until the end of February 2022 that Chinese Red Bull announced that the 50 -year "Agreement" had been found and provided to the relevant courts.

Chinese Red Bull emphasized that the business period of the joint venture in the "Agreement" is 50 years. However, according to the regulations at the time, the joint venture period of the joint venture is generally 10 to 30 years. In order to ensure the successful registration of industry and commerce, the parties to the "joint venture contract" adjust the business period to 30 years. However, the business period for the final approval of the Chinese Red Bull business license is 20 years.

In August 2016, Thailand launched a trademark infringement lawsuit with the Chinese Red Bull. The background was that the 20 -year business period of the two parties was about to expire.

Chinese Red Bull believes that the "Agreement" signed by the two parties stipulates that the cooperation period is 50 years, and it has not yet expired. They regard the appearance of the 50 -year "Agreement" as a turning point that will reverse the situation.

The two products launched by Thai Tiansi in China are similar to the appearance of Chinese Red Bull vitamin functional beverages

How to determine the value of trademark rights

The packaging tank supplier Orekin has been providing packaging tanks for Red Bull since its establishment. It is also a listed company that grew up on the Red Bull Industry Chain. The founder Guan Yuxiang witnessed the entire process of cooperation between Thai Tiansi and Chinese Red Bull.

Huibin Group also said that the premise of agreed to raise funds and operate the Red Bull brand at its own risk was that the joint venture company continued to operate for 50 years to ensure that the previous payments were paid to obtain due returns.

According to data from the Chinese Red Bulls, as of the end of 2016, the cumulative investment in advertising costs of Chinese Red Bulls and related parties reached 12.24 billion yuan.

Chinese Red Bull has achieved 10 billion yuan from 0, which has been used for 16 years; and from 10 billion to 20 billion yuan, Chinese Red Bull has only used it for two years. By 2011, Red Bull's market share in the domestic functional beverage reached an amazing 87%, with more than 4 million sales outlets across the country. By 2020, the cumulative total sales exceeded 200 billion yuan and contributed nearly 36 billion yuan in taxation.

In this case, how to determine the value formation and confirmation of the right to trademark also have different views in the academic community.

"For a well -known trademark brand with a well -known and high gold content, the value of trademarks is not simply generated by registration. It is more important to rely on creative operations, careful maintenance and active promotion of trademark brands. "From the perspective of the vice president of the Chinese Law Society's Business Law Research Association and a professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, the brand value of the Red Bull beverage trademark currently circulating in the Chinese market is not from the registration of Red Bull trademarks, but from the Chinese Red Bull The company's decades of operation and marketing.

Market battle outside the lawsuit

For more than 10 years, the cooperation between the two sides is pleasant.

Xu Shubiao gave Yan Bin market to Yan Bin. The Xu family did not participate in business management. It only assumed the supply of formula technology and flavors and charged fees. According to incomplete statistics from the Chinese Red Bull, Thailand has obtained more than 4 billion yuan in revenue in the above way.

But in 2012, the balance of this interest pattern was broken after Xu Shubiao's death.

In the past 10 years, Chinese functional drinks have maintained the fastest global growth for 10 consecutive years. According to industry forecasts, in the next 10 to 20 years, China is expected to become the world's largest functional beverage market.

Since 2012, Thai Silk has begun to lay out the Chinese market.

In July of that year, Thailand's new agency company -Guangzhou Energy Beverage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guangzhou Energy").

In September 2014, the Thai Silk sent a lawyer's letter to Red Bull companies in Hubei, Guangdong, Jiangsu and other places in the Chinese Red Bull Processing Factory to demand the use of Red Bull trademarks.

In November of the same year, Wang Rui, general manager of Chinese Red Bull, resigned. At present, Wang Rui and Chinese Red Bull senior executive Wang Donghui sold in Beijing, Shenzhen and other places selling "Pusheng Company" is the Thai Silk Red Bull vitamin -flavored drink. Wang Rui has also become the main agent of Thai Tiansi in the Chinese market.

According to media reports, in 2014, Thai Silk was broken off -scent of flavors and scent of Chinese Red Bulls. Later, with the recovery of supply, etc., the Chinese Red Bull required the Chinese Red Bull to transfer all the registered trademarks and design patents for free. Its Austrian joint venture.

Beginning in August 2016, Thai Tiansi sued the Chinese Red Bull and its commissioned processing manufacturers, dealers, suppliers, etc., to stop using Red Bull trademarks.

After that, the two sides began a long -lasting battle for trademark rights.

In September 2019, Thai Tiansi officially launched the "Red Bull Annai Drink" through Guangzhou's energy. In December of the same year, Tiansi sold the "Red Bull Vitamin Flavor Drink" produced to Thailand through Wang Rui's Pu Sheng Company.

The "Red Bull Annai Drink" and "Red Bull Vitamin Flavor Beverage" launched by Thai Tiansi are very similar to the "Red Bull Vitamin Functional Drink" launched by Chinese Red Bull in appearance design. According to the survey of the zero point, 95.6%of people will be confused, and the first two will be considered as the Chinese Red Bull brand.

"But the first two are different from the functional drinks of Chinese Red Bull in formula, taste, and efficacy. The products of Chinese Red Bull belong to health foods, and the main feature is that the effect of anti -fatigue is significant." Zhang Lei said.

Under the squeezing of Tiaisi's restraint and the market "starting show", the market share of Chinese Red Bull has decreased from 87%at the highest at the highest to 57%in 2019.

As a competitor, Dongpeng Beverage commented in the investor survey report in July 2021: "At present, the pattern of multiple Red Bull brands in the market is actually a harm to the Red Bull brand, and it also affects consumers and channel vendors. The brand brings damage. Although it will give other brand development opportunities, it will also cause damage to the energy beverage industry. "

As a counterattack, Huibin Group mentioned international arbitration based on the "joint venture contract" and asked Thailand to fulfill its trademark investment obligations and return the trademark to the Chinese Red Bull. The case is still under trial.

At the same time, based on the agreed of the 50 -year "Agreement", the Chinese Red Bull requested that the court confirmed that the joint venture company enjoyed the right to produce and sell red bull beverages in China within 50 years. It also requires Thai Silk to cooperate with the registration to extend the business period of the company.

The litigation war between the two sides was far from over. "There is no winner in this war, and it is likely to be a defeat in the end." This view is quite common in the market. From the perspective of scholars, Zhao Wanyi believes that how to absorb the experience and lessons of Jiaduobao and Wang Laoji's case requires judicial wisdom. "This also reflects the problems of absolute monopoly monopoly of the trademark right of the trademark law. How to evaluate the status of labor value in registered trademarks, especially well -known trademarks to reflect the substantial fairness, or justice that needs innovation considerations."

(This article was published in "China Economic Weekly", No. 12, 2022)

The cover of "China Economic Weekly" in the 12th issue of 2022

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