Mr. Huang was interviewed by People’s Daily Overseas

On April 9, People's Daily Overseas report,, "Those who say they can join in Tea Beauty and Beauty are all big! Cheat! Son!" This is the only introduction to Chayan Yuese's official microblog. Indeed, all kinds of fake milk tea shops under the banner of genuine make me unbearable. However, what I never expected was that the tea color that had never appeared in Changsha became Korean.

Recently, a Seoul Chinese information platform released a news that overseas students in South Korea rushed to register the trademark of "Tea Beauty and Color" in Seoul, and said that it "paved the way for the brand to go to sea". Then it triggered a heated discussion among netizens: Changsha characteristic milk tea was copied and still registered overseas?

On the afternoon of April 8, Chayan Yuese's official microblog "Buddha Department" responded that the other party's behavior was legal, and we had no right to interfere.

Opinions vary on whether a copycat is a legal netizen

The tea color brand was born in Changsha, Hunan Province in 2013. "As a native of Changsha, when it comes to milk tea, the first thing I think of is tea color." The overseas student who was accused of rushing to register the trademark said in his post, "Rushing to register the trademark is legal in law, and he did not want to damage any interests of the brand." There is also a store map and poster map at the end of the article.

According to the contact information left on the poster, www.haiwai.com browsed its Instagram account. The account has not published any content at present, and only the opening date and address are indicated in the remarks. The opening date is September 27, 2018, and the store is located in Seoul.

Xiaobian searched the address of the store in the satellite map again. South Korean netizens also took pictures of the store. It is confirmed that South Korea's "Chayan Yuese" store has indeed opened its doors.

There are also many food related tweets on Naver blog in South Korea: "Tea Beauty and Beauty, Build a Large Store, Chinese Taste Milk Tea", "Tea Beauty and Beauty, Feel the Fragrance of Milk Tea Shop", and "Build a Tea Beauty and Beauty Milk Tea Shop and Food Shop at the Back Door".

As for why we registered the trademark in South Korea, the overseas student shopkeeper said that we can be their paving stone and give them all their overseas operation experience and everything. Now waiting for Changsha Chayan Yuese to open up the overseas market, I am still willing to communicate with them.

For the statement of "paving the way for domestic brands to go abroad", domestic netizens said they did not buy it. Some netizens said that no matter how hard the shop owner emphasized, as a consumer, I would not buy it; Some netizens worry that the taste is not right, and they will smash the brand milk tea signboard.

However, rational netizens said that it was completely legal and reminded businesses to protect trademarks.

More netizens suggested to rush to other countries and regions, even if not in those places, do not let fake stores spread all over.

Huang Jibao, the chief attorney of Beijing Zhihuan Law Firm, told www.haiwai.com that trademark protection is regional. If you enjoy the exclusive right to use a trademark in a certain region or country, you must register in that region or country. The exclusive right to use a trademark is an exclusive right.

According to the Korean Trademark Law, anyone who uses or intends to use in Korea can apply for registration; Foreigners or companies that do not have a residence or business address in South Korea may file an application for trademark registration as long as their country has signed relevant agreements or treaties with South Korea or is a party to relevant international conventions with South Korea.

In addition, the Korean Trademark Law stipulates that once the identity of the preemptive registrant is identified as the trademark right agent, representative or any third party that has a contractual or commercial relationship with it, it shall not register the same or similar trademark in Korea. In this regard, lawyer Huang Jibao explained that if the foreign student was a partner with the domestic milk tea obligee, it may constitute malicious intent and will be deemed illegal.

Wang Dianming, the deputy director of Beijing Tongchuang Law Firm, said that China's trademark protection is divided into general trademark protection and well-known trademark protection, but the protection is generally limited to domestic. Countries have different efforts to protect trademarks. Some countries also protect foreign well-known trademarks, but most countries only protect trademarks registered in their own countries.

"Regardless of the registered trademark, this free riding behavior may belong to unfair competition." Sina Big V in the legal circle mentioned such a view, which mainly depends on whether it causes substantial damage to the competitive interests of trademark obligees, such as loss of competitive advantage, decline in goodwill, decline in business performance, etc. It is also suggested that Chayan Yuese should properly keep the evidentiary materials and evidence related to Chinese trademarks to try to protect their rights in litigation.

However, in the opinion of lawyer Wang Dianming, this rush to register trademarks mainly focused on trademark protection in intellectual property rights, and it was very difficult to identify unfair competition. From the official micro blog of Chayan Yuese, they should have consulted professionals, and it is really difficult to protect their rights.

As for the fact that the trademark registration has become a reality, many legal persons suggested that the tea color should be pleasant, and in the future, they could negotiate with foreign students, or withdraw or cooperate. In addition, you can also adjust the tea color trademark to distinguish it from the rush registration trademark.

This incident once again sounded the alarm bell for domestic enterprises to safeguard their rights. "When our rights are violated, it is the most powerful weapon for us to seek help from relevant departments through understanding the law." On April 9, Hunan public security official WeChat spoke about the rush registration of the trademark, and popularized the process and cost of trademark registration.

Some netizens immediately urged the tea to look happy and quickly registered the trademark of sister product "Zhihu Chaya".

"When we are rich, we will sue them." This is a copy of a sentence on the Chayan Yuese shopping receipt. But can money win? "Only when enterprises safeguard their rights through legal means and distribute domestic and foreign trademark registration and protection in advance, can their legitimate rights and interests be truly protected from infringement." This is the advice of the two lawyers on Chinese original brands. (Zhang Qi, Liu Qiang, from overseas web)