The Supreme Court has heard a series of trademark disputes involving Red Bull

On October 10, the 4th Court of the Supreme People's Court heard the trademark dispute between Red Bull Vitamin Beverage Co., LTD. ('China Red Bull') and Tiansi Pharmaceutical Healthcare Co., LTD. ('Tiansi Pharmaceutical'). The lawyer of China Red Bull stated that the Court of the first instance did not examine the established facts, and not thoroughly identified several basic facts. Therefore, the Court asked to revoke the judgment of the first instance and send the case back for retrial.

Tiansi Pharmaceutical's lawyer argued that the relevant judgment of the first-instance Court was in accordance with the legal procedure and Tiansi Pharmaceutical has clear, independent and complete ownership of the Red Bull series of trademarks. The relevant provisions in the "95-year Joint Venture Contract" signed by Tiansi Pharmaceuticals and other shareholders on November 10, 1995, mean that Tiansi Thailand, as the owner of the trademark, provides the trademark license to Red Bull Beverage Company and does not transfer the ownership of the Red Bull Trademark.

According to the Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court verdict signed in November 2019, the Red Bull Vitamin Drink co., LTD., as the plaintiff, request the Court to confirm its 878072, 878073, etc. 17 red bull series trademark enjoys the legitimate rights and interests of the owner. Moreover, China Red Bull asks the Thailand Red Bull owner Tiansi pharmaceutical co., LTD., to pay a total of 3.753 billion yuan of the cost of advertising. China Red Bull requests confirmation that Red Bull Vitamins exclusively own the above Red Bull trademarks and, if this cannot be confirmed, are jointly owned by Red Bull Vitamins and Tiansi Pharmaceuticals. On November 25, 2019, the Beijing High People's Court issued a first-instance judgment on the case, rejecting all of Beijing Red Bull's claims.

In a statement published on the evening of November 28, 2019, Red Bull Vitamin Beverage Co LTD said that China Red Bull is the sole investor and contributor to the "Red Bull series trademark" in the Chinese market from zero value to tens of billions of dollars. The core appeal of China Red Bull, in this case, is to ask the Court to confirm the company's claim on "Red Bull Series of trademarks".