SPC to rule on tea brand dispute

BEIJING - The Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Tuesday heard an appeal against a compensation ruling over a long-running copyright dispute between two popular Chinese beverage brands.

A bench of five SPC judges heard the case in which Jiaduobao (China) Drink Co., Ltd appealed a local court's ruling that it must pay more than 150 million yuan (24.5 million US dollars) in compensation to Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited (GPH), holder of the 100-year-old herbal tea brand Wong Lo Kat, for design infringement.

The trial concluded at about 6 p.m. but the final ruling was yet to be announced.

Hong Kong-based Jiaduobao had been using the Wong Lo Kat brand since 1995, when it leased it from GPH. However, the company was only authorized to use the brand until 2010, and had the lease contract extended by bribing administrative staff of GPH.

Over the leasing period, the herbal teas in red cans achieved huge success in China's drinks market.

The two companies fell into a trademark dispute which went to arbitration in 2011, with a decision made in 2012 that the brand rights rest with GPH.

They later sued each other over the design of the cans used for their respective herbal tea products.

In December, the Guangdong Higher People's Court ruled in favor of GPH and ordered Jiaduobao to pay the damages.

The two parties' claims of false advertising against each other have also resulted in multiple lawsuits.