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A 20-yuan cup of tea is at the centre of a legal fight with a French luxury giant. The case has divided public opinion in China.
On July 2, a court in Suzhou ruled that Molly Tea (茉莉奶白), one of China’s rising bubble tea brands, had infringed seven registered trademarks belonging to Louis Vuitton. The Shenzhen-based tea company’s logo, a black-and-white four-petal flower, closely resembles LV’s famous and iconic monogram flower.
The court ordered Molly Tea to pay 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) in damages plus 300,000 yuan in legal costs, apologise publicly to LV, and remove all infringing designs.
The story was soon trending on social media, with most voices speaking out in support of the tea brand:
“Who drinks Molly Tea because its logo looks like LV’s?”
“谁喝茉莉奶白是因为logo和LV相似？”
Across social platforms, comment sections were filled with images of Molly Tea order receipts. The brand’s official Douyin account added more than 110,000 followers in a single day.
Another theme in the discussions was how LV's logo is itself borrowed from China, in what is described as "cultural appropriation" (文化挪用). Images circulated online of near-identical designs called the "treasure flower" pattern (宝相花), a stylised floral motif found in Buddhist art during the Tang Dynasty (618–907).
But there were also voices, especially those of legal experts, who agreed with the court’s decision saying that:
The Tang Dynasty treasure flower cannot be used to deny the value of LV’s monogram as a trademark.
LV registered the trademark, and has spent more than a century cultivating a rich brand heritage, so they are legally entitled to protect their assets.
无法根据唐代宝相花来否认LV那朵花作为商业标识的价值。LV注册了商标，花了一百多年时间沉淀了深厚的品牌声誉，有权得到法律的保护。 [1]
Related
Molly Tea is a latecomer to China’s tea drinks market. Founded in Shenzhen in 2021, it specialises in jasmine-based floral teas. In 2023, the company secured funding which fuelled its rapid expansion, opening over 1,000 stores in 2025 alone.
It now has more than 2,300 stores across China’s top-tier shopping districts, and has opened outlets in New York and Bangkok.
Back in 2024, Molly Tea filed multiple trademark applications for its four-leaf flower design. But they all were rejected with the trademark office citing LV’s existing four-petal marks.
At that time, Molly Tea urgently needed to scale and "tell its story" (讲故事) to investors as a brand on the rise in a highly competitive sector. The cost of changing the logo, in both money and time, seemed to be far greater than any possible future infringement damages.
So the company took a bet and continued to use the logo. This kind of gamble, where a small brand riding on its similarity to a bigger one, is a well trodden path in China. Like the homegrown sportswear brand, Qiao Dan (中国乔丹), which for years traded off its likeness to American brand Air Jordan.
Molly Tea intends to fight the decision. Founder Zhang Bocheng (张伯丞) has said the company will appeal within 15 days, though legal experts believe overturning the ruling is a long shot, and that the best it can realistically hope for is a reduction in damages.
Either way, the future is now more uncertain for the tea brand. While Molly Tea is enjoying a short-term boost in publicity and sales, many observers in China think this won’t last. And the heavy cost of the legal case, along with rebranding thousands of stores, could have a damaging effect on its future growth.
For LV, there is also a question mark: whether winning in court is worth alienating Chinese consumers. Western luxury brands have a poor track record here. In 2022, Dior, part of the same LVMH group, was caught up in controversy over a skirt that appeared to copy the traditional Chinese "horse-face skirt" (马面裙). Dior never acknowledged the resemblance.
But for now at least, LV has won the battle in the courtroom, while Molly Tea is winning in the court of public opinion:
“It wasn’t a total win for LV.
They got the money, but some say it cost them their mass appeal.”
LV这边似乎并没有全然胜利——拿到了钱，却被一些声音形容为”丢了路人缘”。
So that’s what we’re exploring this week!
Favourite Five
1. 喊冤 hǎn yuān
to cry injustice, to protest one’s innocence
现在很多人为茉莉奶白喊冤，理由是“四叶花是大自然的，凭什么LV能注册” - Many people are rallying behind Molly Tea, arguing, “The four-petal flower belongs to nature, so why should LV be allowed to register it as a trademark?” [2]
2. 侵权 qīn quán
to infringe, infringement
LV诉茉莉奶白商标侵权相关话题下，类似的声音不在少数 - This sentiment is widely echoed across social media threads on the topic of LV suing Molly Tea for trademark infringement. [1]
3. 交学费 jiāo xué fèi
to pay tuition, to learn an expensive lesson
无论结果如何，既然成为第一个被奢侈品牌告上法庭的奶茶品牌，茉莉奶白都将交上一笔不菲的学费 - Regardless of the outcome, as the first milk tea chain to be taken to court by a luxury brand, Molly Tea is bound to pay a hefty price. [1]
Related:
代价 dài jià – cost, price
4. 路人缘 lù rén yuán
mass appeal, popularity with the general public
LV这边似乎并没有全然胜利——拿到了钱，却被一些声音形容为“丢了路人缘” - It wasn’t a total win for LV. They got the money, but some say it cost them their mass appeal. [1]
5. 寸步难行 cùn bù nán xíng
unable to make progress, unable to get anywhere
茉莉奶白如果拒不整改，在欧美东南亚估计也是寸步难行 - If Molly Tea refuses to comply to the ruling, it will likely struggle in Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia as well. [2]
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Consuming the Conversation
Useful words
6. 驳回 bó huí
to reject, to dismiss
在商标被驳回后，茉莉奶白如果没有继续大规模公开使用这个logo，也不至把自己推进千万赔偿的大坑里 - If Molly Tea had not continued using the logo on a large scale after the trademark rejection, they wouldn’t be facing this massive, eight-figure liability trap. [1]
7. 诉讼 sù sòng
lawsuit, litigation
如果去打行政诉讼，考虑到茉莉奶白也具备一定的知名度，还是有争取空间的 - If Molly Tea pursues an administrative lawsuit, they still have a fighting chance given the brand’s established market presence. [1]
8. 破绽 pò zhàn
flaw, loophole
LV显然是做足了准备——相比之下，茉莉奶白破绽不少 - LV was clearly well prepared, while Molly Tea had quite a few weaknesses in its case. [1]
9. 善后 shàn hòu
to deal with the aftermath, to handle the fallout
LV赢得无可挑剔，但恰恰是这场无可挑剔的胜利，或许会让公关团队拿出更多精力“善后” - While LV’s legal triumph was unimpeachable, it is this very success that may require their public relations team to spend more time cleaning up the aftermath. [1]
10. 不服 bù fú
to refuse to accept, to be unconvinced
苏州中院给奶茶品牌“茉莉奶白”开出的一审罚单，数字很大，茉莉奶白很不服 - Molly Tea is strongly protesting the first-instance verdict by the Suzhou Intermediate Court, which ordered the brand to pay exceptionally high damages. [2]
11. 挪用 nuó yòng
to appropriate, to misappropriate
有人翻出唐代宝相花来论证LV的“文化挪用” - Some people pointed to the Tang Dynasty treasure flower motif as evidence of LV’s “cultural appropriation”. [3]
12. 相悖 xiāng bèi
to contradict, to be at odds with
情感与法理有时候是相悖的，最终裁决必然需要按照法律条款来定音 - Emotions and legal principles are sometimes at odds, and the final ruling must ultimately be determined by the letter of the law. [4]
