Chinese tea chain Molly Tea ordered to pay Louis Vuitton $1.5M over logo dispute

The Intermediate People’s Court of Suzhou in eastern China’s Jiangsu province ruled last week that Shenzhen-based Molly Tea must pay the damages within 10 days, according to the South China Morning Post.

The court said the compensation awarded in the trademark infringement case includes 10 million yuan for economic losses and 300,000 yuan for reasonable litigation expenses.

Molly Tea said it plans to appeal the ruling. The chain has since updated the logo displayed on its mini-program, replacing the previous black-and-white version with a colored design.

The court also ordered the company to publish a statement on the homepages of its six media accounts to eliminate the negative impact of the infringement.

The civil lawsuit was filed on May 15 last year, according to Chinese corporate information provider Tianyancha.

Molly Tea in 2024 submitted multiple trademark applications to the China National Intellectual Property Administration for various floral designs covering restaurant services and food products.

However, most of the applications were rejected, with only a trademark incorporating the Chinese characters for “Molly Tea” ultimately being registered, according to China Daily.

The lawsuit has sparked heated debate online in China. Some users on Weibo argued that the two brands operate in different industries or that similar patterns were used in ancient China, while many others said the logo immediately reminded them of Louis Vuitton.

Kang Lixia, partner of Beijing Standzer IP Firm, said that the Chinese company has the right to appeal and provide more evidence. She highlighted that traditional cultural elements are part of the public domain, but the principle of “first-to-file” is fundamental in China’s trademark legal system.

Founded in 2021, Molly Tea said it now operates more than 2,000 stores worldwide, with overseas locations in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore.