Merchants fined 63000 yuan for homemade "Maotai coffee"
September 4th
Kweichow Moutai and Ruixing Coffee
Jointly launched "Sauce flavored Latte"
Officially launched for sale
According to official news from Luckin Coffee
"Sauce flavored Latte" breaks the single product record
The first day sales of a single product exceeded 5.42 million cups
Sales revenue exceeding 100 million yuan
At the same time, Maotai and its surrounding products have also attracted the attention and discussion of netizens.
According to media reports, Maotai staff stated that "sauce flavored latte" is the first joint cooperation between Maotai and coffee brands. But in reality, Maotai coffee has already appeared in the market.
Nine faction news reporters searched the Tianyancha app and found that a merchant had been punished for making "Maotai coffee".
In 2022, the Xintian Cosmetics Business Department in Wuxi sold "Maotai Coffee" without obtaining a food business license, and set up promotional signs such as "Exclusive Special Moutai Coffee 53 ° ¥ 128" and "Coffee Ceiling No. 9 53 ° Flying Moutai Coffee" in the store.
Due to the inability to provide a food business license and relevant authorization from Maotai Company, the party involved was suspected of violating the Food Safety Law and Trademark Law. The Market Supervision Administration of Liangxi District, Wuxi City confiscated the illegal gains of 8378.15 yuan and imposed a fine of 63640 yuan.
Previously, according to media reports, Maotai staff stated that coffee shops illegally added Maotai to their drinks for sale, even if it was not promoted as a selling point, it was still an infringement.
On the 5th, a journalist from Jiupai News contacted Maotai customer service, who corrected the above statement: "If a restaurant adds Maotai to its products for sale and uses it as a selling point for promotion, it is considered infringement. If it is not used for advertising, it is not considered infringement."
In addition to coffee shops coming to "ride the heat", Jiupai News found that on the day the "sauce flavored latte" opened for sale, a well-known hot pot restaurant in Changsha also posted an article claiming to have launched a new sauce flavored Maotai hot pot.
"The golden prize beef hotpot base is matched with Guizhou 53 degree Feitian Moutai. Each Maotai hotpot with soy sauce contains 8 ml of Kweichow Moutai, which is added in person at the dining site, with the price of 128 yuan for the bottom."
Jiupai News contacted the catering management company as a citizen, and when asked if "Maotai Hot Pot" was authorized by Maotai Company, the other party hung up the phone.
Lawyer's reminder: "Maotai" is not something that can be bid just because you want it to be bid
Fu Jian, Director of Henan Zejin Law Firm, stated that the Anti Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that operators shall not engage in any confusing behavior that is likely to mislead people into thinking it is a product of others or has a specific connection with others. Luckin and Maotai have a commercial partnership, but if other restaurants follow Luckin's promotion, it is suspected of unfair competition.
If a restaurant adds Maotai liquor to food for sale without authorization from Maotai, it is indeed an infringement of Maotai's trademark and copyright, constituting an infringement act. It may be claimed for infringing on the rights and interests of Maotai Company, or it may be suspected of unfair competition and subject to high fines. In serious cases, the business license may also be revoked.
However, if the restaurant has obtained authorization from Maotai or used Maotai liquor as raw material under Maotai's permission, then this behavior does not constitute infringement.
In addition, if the restaurant does not promote Maotai liquor as a selling point, but only uses it as a raw material, then this behavior will not cause substantial infringement on Maotai's trademark and copyright.
