Molly Tea

Chinese tea beverage brand Molly Tea said it would appeal a court ruling ordering it to pay 10.3 million yuan ($1.52 million) to French luxury house Louis Vuitton for trademark infringement, a case that has drawn widespread attention on Chinese social media, according to several media reports.

The Suzhou Intermediate People's Court in East China's Jiangsu Province handed down the first-instance judgment on Wednesday, ruling that Shenzhen Molly Tea Catering Management Co and a franchise store in Suzhou's Wuzhong Economic Development Zone had infringed on seven of Louis Vuitton's registered four-petal flower trademarks, part of the brand's Monogram pattern, Chinese media outlet Jiemian reported on Thursday.

Molly Tea said it would appeal in accordance with the law, adding that it was not convenient to disclose further details at this stage, according to Jiemian. Zhang Bocheng, founder of the brand, also confirmed to Xinhuanghe, a media outlet based in East China's Shandong Province, that the company would appeal. 

The company did not respond to a request for comment from the Global Times as of press time on Friday.

The topic "LV sues Molly Tea, awarded 10.3 million yuan" topped the trending list on Sina Weibo on Thursday, with 350 million views and sparking heated discussions among netizens. Some argued that Molly Tea's use of the design constituted infringement, noting that the company had continued using the motif after its own trademark applications were rejected. Others voiced support for the appeal, saying the four-petal flower motif can be traced back to traditional Chinese patterns, including the baoxiang flower design of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

According to the court order, the two defendants must immediately stop the infringement. Molly Tea's parent company must pay Louis Vuitton 10 million yuan in economic losses plus 300,000 yuan in reasonable rights-protection expenses within 10 days of the judgment taking effect, with the franchise store bearing joint liability within a limit of 100,000 yuan. The company must also bear litigation and preservation fees of about 295,800 yuan, and publish statements on the homepages of its official website and accounts on platforms including Weibo, WeChat, Xiaohongshu and Douyin to eliminate the impact, Jiemian reported. 

The case, numbered (2025) Su 05 Min Chu No. 617, was filed on May 15, 2025, according to corporate information platform Tianyancha.

Founded in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, Molly Tea opened its first store in February 2021 and its first overseas store in New York in April 2024, according to the brand's official website. The brand now has more than 2,400 stores in operation, according to Chinese catering industry information provider Zhaimen Canyan.

Global Times