Why Louis Vuitton took a Chinese bubble tea brand to court and won $1.5 million

It's a fast-growing brand vs one of the fashion industry's biggest names. Hence, the case has attracted so much attention. A popular Chinese tea chain, Molly Tea, vs Louis Vuitton feud over copyrights reached court in Suzhou, China.

And Louis Vuitton walked away with a Rs 12 crore victory after a Chinese court ruled that Molly Tea's logo infringed LV's trademark.

According to a Chinese media report last week, the court in the eastern Jiangsu province said that the Shenzhen-based tea company had copied the luxury giant's iconic four-petal flower design. The verdict has led to Chinese social media exploding with opinions.

We take a look.

Louis Vuitton vs Molly tea: The copyright fight

On Thursday (July 2), the court ordered Molly Tea to pay Louis Vuitton 10.3m yuan (around US$1.5 million and around Rs 12 crore) in damages, saying that its logo appeared too similar to the luxury brand's famous floral monogram, China Daily reported.

More from Explainers

Suzhou Intermediate People's Court in eastern China also asked the tea company to pay another 300,000 yuan (around Rs 42,19,548) towards legal expenses. However, these financial penalties are not the lasting problems the tea brand faces.

The court also directed the popular Chinese tea chain not to use the disputed logo and to issue a public apology across its official website and social media accounts, according to reports.

The court's decision has not sat well with Molly Tea, and the company said that it plans to appeal. While the legal proceedings continue, it has updated its branding, replacing the black-and-white logo with a coloured one.

The feud is not new. Louis Vuitton filed the trademark lawsuit last year after raising concerns over Molly Tea's branding.

BBC reported, citing a publication, that the China National Intellectual Property Administration rejected several trademark applications filed by Molly Tea and its affiliated firms in 2024.

Chinese social media explodes with opinions

The topic has divided the internet, with some supporting Louis Vuitton, while defenders of Molly Tea have also accused Western luxury brands of using designs inspired by Chinese artefacts.

Backing Molly Tea, a commenter on Weibo wrote in Mandarin, saying, "He will have a cup of Molly Tea daily" to show his support for the firm.

"Give me a break. They're just taking advantage of the fact that our ancestors didn't file for patents," another commenter wrote, BBC reported.

"Such basic geometric shapes have been used everywhere throughout history, not just China," a user said on RedNote, a Chinese social media platform.

However, some outrightly supported Louis Vuitton

They say those who back Molly Tea's design should "study law first", arguing that LV had first registered the logo; hence, there should not be any room for the dispute.

Another noted that one brand cannot imitate another, regardless of industry, and that the luxury giant is justified in defending its intellectual property.

The social media debate continues, and so will the legal battle as Molly Tea prepares to appeal.

The popular tea brand was founded in 2021. It operates in thousands of stores across China and overseas, including in the US, Canada, Australia and others.

With inputs from agencies