Red Bull Photo: VCG

Thai drink maker TC Pharmaceutical Industries (TCP), owner of Red Bull Thailand, said a court in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has ruled that Red Bull China is infringing on its trademark and ordered the company to halt production and sale of "Red Bull" brand beverages in China, escalating a 7-year-long dispute between the two previous partners.

Red Bull Vitamin Drink Co Ltd - commonly known as Red Bull China and managed by the Reignwood Group - said on Tuesday that the court's ruling is an "ineffective judgment" and has no res judicata and enforcement power. "Relevant parties will lodge appeals to protect their legitimate rights and interests," the company said in a statement sent to the Global Times.

According to the material TCP sent to the Global Times, the Heilongjiang Higher People's Court ordered Red Bull Vitamin Drink Co Ltd, Beijing Red Bull Drink Sales Co, Beijing Red Bull Drink Sales Co's Heilongjiang branch to immediately stop the production and sale of "Red Bull Vitamin Functional Drink", and cease their infringement on the trademark "Red Bull".

At the same time, they are asked to jointly compensate the plaintiff TCP 100 million yuan ($14.45 million), according to the court document.

In addition, another court in Northeast China's Jilin Province in October 2022 made a similar ruling against three companies managed by Reignwood Group, and ordered them to compensate the plaintiff 30 million yuan.

TCP said that major online and offline channels in the Chinese market, including JD.com, Tmall, and Walmart have removed "Red Bull Vitamin Functional Drink" that were produced by Reignwood Group.

The dispute between the two companies first began in 2016, with their major disagreement being whether their cooperation period is 20 years or 50 years.

According to media reports, TCP founder Chaleo Yoovidhya visited China's Hainan Province in 1993 to launch a factory there. In early 1995, Reignwood Group founder Yan Bin set up Red Bull China with the Thai partner. The Thai company provided brand authorization and Yan was responsible for production and sale of the drink.

TCP said the cooperation arrangement was agreed to for a period of 20 years, so Red Bull's trademark license in China should have expired in October 2016. However, Red Bull China argued that it has the exclusive right to produce and sell Red Bull beverages in China, with a validity period of 50 years.

The company said that its current operation and sales remain normal. "TCP has no right to produce and sell Red Bull drinks in the Chinese mainland," Red Bull China said in the statement.

The dispute has affected Reignwood Group's operation. The company said that it monitored about 8,000 bad comments and 6 million reviews to the topic of "Production and sale of Reignwood's Red Bull are banned" within five hours on Saturday night.

"Disinformation and smearing is confusing and misleading the public, and has done severe damage to Reignwood Group's reputation," the company said, noting that it will pursue legal action against those that "violate laws".

Meanwhile, other leading drink brands such as Eastroc Beverage and Chi Forest are making efforts to gain more market share in China's functional beverage market, whereas drink giants like Coca-Cola and Wahaha have released beverages similar to Red Bull.