At a glance, the store sign clearly identifies the internet celebrity milk tea shop as "Yidiandian", but a closer look reveals that there are two small characters behind "Yidiandian" - "Jiufen".

Wang, who runs a milk tea shop in Fenghua, did not expect that he would be involved in a trademark infringement case after spending nearly 70,000 yuan to apply for the franchise.

On June 29, the Fenghua District Market Supervision Bureau received reports from the public that a milk tea shop on Zhongshan Road in its jurisdiction was suspected of infringing the Internet celebrity shop - Yidiandian. Law enforcement officers went to the scene to inspect and found that the store's signboard, price list in the hall, and the plastic milk tea cups, plastic bags, and plastic packages used were all marked with the "(1__ Jiufen)" logo.

After enquiry, the operator Wang was unable to provide the relevant trademark registration certificate and authorization letter. "We are a franchise store, is this also an infringement?" Faced with law enforcement officials, Wang also complained bitterly.

It turns out that on June 13 this year, Wang and his wife paid a one-time payment of 69,800 yuan to join an investment management company in Guangzhou and opened this store. At that time, the two parties signed the "Sales Contract to Voluntarily Join the Jiufen Yidiandian System", which clarified that the company would provide milk tea production technology, production facilities and equipment, and personnel training to the franchisee.

“We decorated the store based on the store decoration design provided by the company. The plastic milk tea cups, plastic bags and plastic packaging cup stickers used in the store were also purchased from the company. How could it be an infringement? "

"We carefully checked the contract signed by both parties, and there is no mention of the terms of trademark and logo use!" The inspector made it clear that the use of other people's trademarks must obtain the authorization of the trademark owner. Authorization, otherwise it is infringement. Moreover, this kind of trademark and color matching will cause confusion and misunderstanding to consumers, and bring losses to famous brand companies! In fact, it is not difficult to understand the rationale of investors. They simply want to take advantage of consumers’ psychology of valuing brand-name reputation, service and quality to maximize profits. Moreover, the joining of franchisees will help expand the scope of publicity, which is very despicable.

At present, the Fenghua District Market Supervision Bureau has seized all suspected infringing items in the store in accordance with the law and ordered the store owner to immediately stop the infringement. At the same time, a letter was sent to the industrial and commercial department where the investment company is located to assist in further investigation.

The majority of investors who are interested in joining a certain brand must carefully review the other party’s business license and brand trademark registration certificate or authorization letter before signing a franchise agreement to avoid being deceived.