近日，北京市高级人民法院在红牛维他命饮料有限公司诉天丝医药保健有限公司商标权属案中作出一审判决，确认天丝公司对“红牛”系列商标的所有权，同时驳回要求天丝公司支付广告宣传费37.53亿元等诉讼请求。环球律师事务所在案件中担任了泰国天丝的代理律师。

判决书显示，红牛维他命饮料有限公司的合资各方于1995年和1998年先后两次签订合资合同，共同投资设立红牛饮料公司。近年来，华彬集团与天丝公司双方就红牛饮料的商标、外观专利、合资营业期限、广告宣传等问题陷入一系列纠纷。此次法院认定，合资合同中对天丝公司“提供商标”责任的约定属于提供商标许可使用，而非转让，这也是过去几年来关于红牛系列纠纷案中首先得到判决的一例。

本案中天丝公司的代理律师为环球合伙人李昭律师和乔平律师，参与本案的环球律师还包括合伙人刘劲容律师、张雪艳律师、郭仕芳律师以及李雨辰律师等。

Global helps Red Bull win long-running trademark lawsuit

Global Law Office has represented Thailand's T.C.  Pharmaceutical Industries, owners of Red Bull trademarks, in a trademark ownership dispute filed by Red Bull Vitamin Drink.

The joint venture parties of Red Bull Vitamin Drink signed two joint venture contracts in 1995 and 1998, and jointly established Red Bull Vitamin Drink. In recent years, Reignwood Group and T.C. Pharmaceutical have been involved in a series of disputes over Red Bull trademarks, design patents, joint venture term, promotion and other issues regarding Red Bull beverage.

In this lawsuit, the Chinese court dismissed all claims of the plaintiff, including claims to ownership of the Red Bull series of trademarks.  The court ruled that T.C. Pharmaceutical’s obligation of “providing trademark” under the joint venture contract was providing trademark license instead of transferring the trademarks ownership. This judgement appears to be the very first judgement among series of Red Bull disputes over the past few years.

The Global team was led by partners Li Zhao and Qiao Ping, with assistance from partners Liu Jinrong, Zhang Xueyan, Guo Shifang, as well as associate Li Yuchen.

To contact the editorial team, please email ALBEditor@thomsonreuters.com.