The competition for "Wanglaoji" has escalated once again.
On April 11, Jiaduobao Group, which operates "Red Can Wanglaoji" in mainland China, issued a statement calling on "relevant state-owned enterprises to respect intellectual property rights and strictly comply with national laws and regulations," and "Jiaduobao strongly urges and urges relevant state-owned enterprises to cherish the years of joint efforts of all parties and not destroy this cultural heritage treasure."
Currently, the "Wanglaoji" trademark used by Jiaduobao Group is authorized by Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group. But in March 2011, after Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group authorized Guangdong Guangliang Industrial to operate the "Wanglaoji" brand non-herbal tea products, Jiaduobao could no longer sit still.
However, from the perspective of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, it is the true owner of the Chinese mainland "Wanglaoji" trademark, and its authorization to JDB has long expired. Based on this assessment, starting from November 2010, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group began high-profile global investment promotion, stating that in the "big health industry," it would carry out various forms of cooperation with global manufacturers, share "Wanglaoji" brand resources, and expand the "Wanglaoji" brand into medicinal liquor, cosmeceuticals, health products, food, sports equipment, and other fields.
Whose "Wong Lo Kei"? To this day, amid this protracted dispute, two major mysteries remain unresolved: who actually owns the "Wanglaoji" trademark? When exactly will the authorization for Jiaduobao Group expire? The stakeholders involved include not only Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group and JDB, but also Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical, a joint venture between Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group and Hong Kong Tongxing Pharmaceutical, and Hong Kong Hung To Group, the joint actual controller behind JDB and Tongxing Pharmaceutical.
■ Two "Wanglaoji"
"Six years ago, Wanglaoji was just one step away from trademark unification." On April 10, during an interview with our reporter, Wang Jianyi, the fifth-generation successor of Wanglaoji and chairman of Hong Kong Tongxing Pharmaceutical, still expressed some regret.
According to Wang Jianyi, Wanglaoji herbal tea was founded by his ancestor Wang Zebang in the eighth year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty, mainly developing in the Lingnan region of Guangdong. After 1949, Wanglaoji split into two parts.
The Wang family descendants in Hong Kong run Wong Lo Kat's Hong Kong and overseas businesses, known as "Hong Kong Wong Lo Kat International." In 1993, Wong Kin Yee became an executive director of the company and held one-third of its shares. The original Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Factory was nationalized and later renamed "Yangcheng Pharmaceutical," under Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group.
In 1995, Chen Hongdao, a Dongguan-based wholesaler active in Guangdong and Hong Kong, approached Wang Jianyi and obtained the formula for red canned Wanglaoji herbal tea. However, since Wang Jianyi only owned the trademark rights in Hong Kong and overseas, Chen Hongdao, who wanted to operate Wanglaoji herbal tea beverages in mainland China, turned to Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical to seek cooperation.
In 1997, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group underwent asset restructuring and established Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which went public in Hong Kong. In this restructuring, Wanglaoji joined Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals. In February of the same year, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical signed a "Wanglaoji Trademark License Usage Agreement" with Hong Kong Hongdao Group. After obtaining the formula and trademark usage rights, Chen Hongdao began investing in the Red Can Wanglaoji herbal tea business in mainland China using Jiaduobao Group as a platform.
Subsequently, in November 2002, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group also obtained a 10-year "overseas trademark usage rights" from Wang Jianyi, enabling Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group's "Wanglaoji" products to open up domestic and overseas markets. Thus, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, the Wanglaoji family, and JDB officially formed a triangular business relationship.
After 2004, the two "Wanglaoji" began efforts to "unify operations."
In March of that year, Yangcheng Pharmaceutical was renamed "Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical," reviving its time-honored brand and introducing Hong Kong Tongxing Pharmaceutical as a strategic partner through capital increase and share expansion. It is said that Hongdao Group is the actual controller behind Tongxing Pharmaceutical.
On February 1, 2005, the Sino-foreign joint venture "Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical" was officially established, with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and Tongxing Pharmaceutical each holding 48.0465%, tied as the largest shareholders. Guangzhou Pharmaceutical and Tongxing Pharmaceutical also agreed to transfer Wanglaoji trademarks from home and abroad to Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical, creating a global national brand.
"Since I am the fifth-generation successor of Wanglaoji and the holder of Wanglaoji's registered trademarks in more than forty countries overseas, Tongxing Pharmaceutical approached me to discuss this matter. At that time, I made it clear that achieving the unification of Wanglaoji brands at home and abroad and bringing Wanglaoji herbal tea to the world has long been the wish of our family and all Wanglaoji people, and it is also what I personally most hope to achieve. I will definitely actively participate in making this happen. "Wang Jianyi, currently the chairman of Tongxing Pharmaceutical and Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical, said, "Moreover, Tongxing Pharmaceutical has already received written commitments from Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group and government instructions to transfer the mainland Wanglaoji trademark to the Wanglaoji joint venture, so achieving a unified Wanglaoji trademark at home and abroad is entirely achievable." ”
But to this day, the domestic and overseas trademark ownership of Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical is still held separately by the two major shareholders of Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical. Not only has the "unification" been stalled for nearly six years, but the two major shareholders have even openly turned against each other.
■ Unrealized "Merger"
"Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group and Tongxing Pharmaceutical have signed a letter of commitment to 'agree to transfer ownership of the mainland Wanglaoji trademark to the joint venture.' Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group agreed to transfer the mainland 'Wanglaoji' trademark ownership to the joint venture for compensation, and Tongxing Pharmaceutical also promised to do its best to assist Wang Jianyi, a descendant of Wanglaoji, in transferring the ownership of more than 40 overseas 'Wanglaoji' trademarks to the joint venture for compensation. Wang Jianyi emphasized to reporters, "This is the primary condition for both parties to establish a joint venture, and these documents have been preserved to this day." ”
According to Wang Jianyi, after the Wong Lo Kat joint venture was established, the trademark was transferred to the joint venture, and at first, things went very smoothly. In June 2005, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group and Tongxing Pharmaceutical established a dedicated "Trademark Transfer Working Group," and intermediary agencies quickly completed price assessments for mainland and overseas trademarks, reporting to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and municipal governments.
According to the original plan, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group was supposed to transfer the mainland Wanglaoji trademark to the joint venture in July of that year, and Tongxing Pharmaceutical would also assist Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical in acquiring overseas trademark ownership.
At that time, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group even signed a performance guarantee agreement with Tongxing Pharmaceutical to guarantee the joint venture's performance, meaning that within two years of cooperation, the company's sales scale would double. From the third year (2007) onward, for the following seven years, maintain an annual growth rate of 30%. If the target is not met, the profit gap will be filled by Tongxing Pharmaceutical.
"But unfortunately, six years have passed in the blink of an eye, and the final work on the trademark transfer has never been carried out." Wang Jianyi attributed the failure to achieve "unification" to Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, stating, "Guangzhou Pharmaceutical has been unable to fulfill its promises, resulting in the Wanglaoji trademark not being unified to this day." ”
But at that time, this did not become an obstacle to the rapid expansion of Wanglaoji herbal tea.
In 2009, Wanglaoji herbal tea annual sales climbed to 16 billion yuan, surpassing Coca-Cola's 15 billion yuan to become China's top beverage brand. Of this huge figure, the "Green Box Wanglaoji" operated by Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group itself accounts for just over 1 billion yuan, with the rest contributed by JDB Red Can Wanglaoji, authorized by Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group.
■ Is a "breakup" inevitable?
However, in November 2010, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group's "big health industry strategy" finally brought the underlying conflicts to light.
In March 2011, Guangliang Industrial, authorized by Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, launched two new products under the Wanglaoji brand: "Guyuan Porridge" and "Lotus Seed Mung Bean Refreshing" health porridge. The former also uses red as the main color for its easy-open can packaging, with the "Wanglaoji" trademark in yellow, similar to the red can Wanglaoji herbal tea packaging produced by JDB.
On April 11, Jiaduobao spokesperson Tian Wei stated, "On that day, Jiaduobao immediately filed a complaint with the Trademark Division and Law Enforcement Office of the Chengdu Administration for Industry and Commerce, citing infringement of the unique packaging and decoration rights of Wanglaoji well-known products," and "Jiaduobao reserves the right to pursue related legal responsibility."
Yang Aixing, deputy general manager of Jiaduobao Group, clearly stated, "Guangyao Group's authorization of Guangliang Industrial to use the Wanglaoji trademark violates the legal principle of good faith, misleading the trademark licensee (Guangliang) and consumers; Their actions violate the principles of honesty and credibility in business ethics and legal principles. ”
However, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group stated publicly that its authorization for Jiaduobao to exclusively use and operate the "Wanglaoji" brand trademark expired in May 2010, and it had sent a lawyer's letter to Jiaduobao, intending to revoke the exclusive authorization. JDB stated that they "have not seen a lawyer's letter from Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals."
Moreover, while Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group insists on revoking the authorization for Jiaduobao, it may also lose the right to use the Wanglaoji trademark overseas.
Wang Jianyi stated that after the contract expires in 2012, she may not renew the "overseas trademark usage rights" with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group. In her view, under the current "regional fragmentation" pattern of the Wanglaoji brand, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Wanglaoji lacks international market discourse power and is far from the goal of developing a "global health industry."
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