The Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court recently handed down a first-instance judgment in the trademark infringement lawsuit brought by Louis Vuitton Malletier (LV) against Molly Tea, ruling that Molly Tea and its franchised stores have infringed LV’s exclusive rights to registered trademarks.

The litigation involves seven four-leaf flower figurative trademarks owned by LV, including Registration Nos. 61812517A and 68717216A. These graphics serve as core elements of LV’s iconic Monogram canvas pattern, a highly recognizable visual symbol renowned worldwide.

Previously, Molly Tea extensively deployed diamond-shaped floral patterns highly similar to LV’s Monogram print across its physical stores nationwide, milk tea cups, carrier bags, in-store decorations and online promotional materials. The brand once filed independent applications for identical four-leaf flower figurative trademarks, yet all applications were rejected or subsequently invalidated by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), leaving it without legitimate rights to the graphic marks.

Per the written judgment, the parent company of Molly Tea is required to compensate LV RMB 10 million for economic losses plus RMB 300,000 covering reasonable rights-protection expenses, totaling RMB 10.3 million, within 10 days upon the judgment taking effect. The defendant must also publish a public statement to eliminate adverse infringing impacts on all official channels including its official website, Weibo, WeChat Official Account, WeChat Mini Program, rednote and Douyin, and immediately cease all trademark-infringing activities at issue.

Zhang Bocheng, founder of Molly Tea, stated that the brand intends to file an appeal against the first-instance ruling.