China court orders Molly Tea to pay Louis Vuitton over flower logo

A court in Suzhou ordered Shenzhen-based Molly Tea to pay Louis Vuitton 10.3 million yuan, or about $1.5 million, after finding the milk tea chain had infringed the luxury house’s flower mark. The Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court issued the first-instance ruling on June 29, 2026, and Chinese media reported it days later, putting a domestic beverage brand at the center of a closely watched trademark test.

The award includes 10 million yuan in economic losses and 300,000 yuan in legal costs, and the court also ordered Molly Tea to stop using the disputed logo. Chinese media reported that the company must issue a public apology as well. Louis Vuitton filed the case in May 2025, and reports said the court found infringement of seven of the French brand’s registered trademarks in China.

The dispute turns on Molly Tea’s four-petal floral emblem and Louis Vuitton’s long-standing Monogram flower device, a visual overlap that has now been judged costly in one of China’s most crowded consumer categories. Molly Tea has said it will appeal, extending a case that now tests how far Chinese courts are willing to go in policing lookalike branding, especially when the defendant is a fast-growing chain built on franchise stores rather than a single boutique operation.

The ruling has also spread quickly online. One Chinese outlet said a related hashtag drew more than 360 million views, while another put the figure above 400 million, reflecting how intensely the case has resonated with consumers who routinely debate imitation, branding and the place of global luxury labels in China. That discussion has not stayed confined to Louis Vuitton’s rights alone; it has also reopened arguments over whether Western houses have borrowed from Chinese motifs, complicating the public reaction to a decision that otherwise favored strict trademark enforcement.

Chinese media also reported that several trademark applications filed by Molly Tea and affiliated firms were rejected by the China National Intellectual Property Administration. Only the version containing the Chinese characters for Molly Tea was successfully registered, underscoring how closely the brand’s visual identity has been scrutinized. For domestic companies selling in a market packed with copycat risks and high logo recognition, the ruling signals that a distinctive image can no longer be treated as a low-cost shortcut.