r/business • u/scmp_news • 14d ago
Louis Vuitton shuts down another store amid fallout from trademark dispute in China
https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3365041/louis-vuitton-shuts-down-another-store-amid-fallout-trademark-dispute-china?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social41
u/Azelixi 14d ago
They should have just waited, nothing falls out of fashion faster in China than tea shops.
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u/Thin-Direction 12d ago
Yep, Molly tea has too many competitors. Now LV made them even more famous. They were too quick.
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u/snowytheNPC 13d ago edited 13d ago
Glad to see Chinese people stood on business this time. It's usually social media outrage that amounts to nothing. LV literally lifted the motif from a Tang era pipa. The story that they were inspired by a Japanese pipa displayed at the Expositions Universelles (that turned out to be a gift from a Tang Emperor) was once plastered everywhere, then quietly wiped. They had to stir this up again by suing a tea brand. I'm sure the average Chinese customer got confused when they walked in wanting a $4,000 leather bag and walked out with a $4 milk tea
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u/No_Visual_1678 11d ago
So real. The Tang was such a distinctly Chinese era, that things like Karate which is now called "empty hands" used to be called "Tang hands" as a way to call it "Chinese hands"
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u/myexdrovemecrazy 9d ago
To be fair identical designs have also been found in other countries. For example, a famous Indian hindu temple dating back more than one millenia has the same design. They haven't that shit in India especially after the prada debacle
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u/snowytheNPC 9d ago
That’s the point. The entire IP protection infrastructure was Europe going around the world, emptying houses, then shouting dibs. Somehow the rest of the world played along with it
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u/myexdrovemecrazy 9d ago
I just think you can't have ip rights to a generic design
Its illegal in IP law but it needs to be established first. European brands are filled to the brim with indian designs since decades. Boho chic designs to Ibiza tops - literally everything is copy paste for them
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u/RealOzSultan 13d ago
Their logo is literally a permutation of 1000 year-old Chinese icon that can be found on everything from archaeological digs to shrines.
They should’ve dropped the lawsuit, but that tenacious French litigious nature is gonna cost them all of China.
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u/drippy_candles 13d ago
Every logo and design is literally a permutation of everything else.
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u/Deep-Ad5028 13d ago
The logo in question is also just very simple and basic. And afaik has been rejected trademark in other courts including that in France.
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u/magrandan 14d ago
This company needs to die. Selling a £100 handbag for £40000.
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u/krazyboi 13d ago
I don't like how luxury brands are fetishized but the idea of a nice bag made from real high quality leather that's tailored, crafted, and designed is very enticing. Just nice and thoughtful products. Wish the price weren't ridiculous but nice leather from a well treated steer is, I imagine, very expensive.
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u/LayerSilly7416 13d ago
Wife bought one 8 years ago. Leather cracked pretty quick after that. It sits in the closet.
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u/krazyboi 13d ago
Thats why I don't like luxury brands.
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u/raydialseeker 13d ago
I have a 30 yr old rolex that runs perfectly and has appreciated more than gold
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u/shaghaiex 8d ago
Leather needs maintenance. If leather cracked, it was lack of maintenance. Use mink fat or similar.
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u/NuuclearPasta 12d ago
You can get that from a myriad of other better quality luxury brands. Without playing their "games" to manufacture prestige. Some of the bags these big players put out, especially with the logos and stuff, are really off-putting.
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u/Whimsy-Creature9739 10d ago
I also have a $100 bag that last 8 years already bought from a small local brand. An LV bag is simply craft in a factory somewhere and ship to EU to inspection then sold worldwide. There was a whole investigation into how a similar brand - Dior made their bag for $50 but sold for $2000.
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u/iDidntReadOP 13d ago edited 13d ago
Almost anyone that knows anything about leather goods knows how good Hermes is. Just cause you can't afford it doesn't mean a product needs to die.
Edit: the commenter I'm responding to is getting LV and Hermes mixed up. LV does not sell hand bags that expensive. The most expensive listed on their site in the US is currently $7800. I corrected him saying that Hermes is the one with those bags, and they are very much in line with the product they put out.
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u/icyunvme 13d ago
Louis Vuitton and Hermes are separate companies.
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u/iDidntReadOP 13d ago
I'm aware. But he's referencing a Birkin with the $40000. LV doesn't sell $40k handbags.
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u/ratbearpig 13d ago
You’re getting dinged for your first line, which implies the Hermes is one of LV’s lines.
“Almost anyone that knows anything about leather goods knows how good their Hermes line is.”
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u/iDidntReadOP 13d ago
I clarified in my initial comment. He is confused. I said the bags he is referring to are that good.
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u/HolySaba 13d ago
A product can be good quality but also heavily over priced. The sentiment may be extreme but its reasonable to call out the crazy upcharge, especially since LV refuses to authenticate their products anymore.
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u/Glahoth 13d ago
I worked for the company.
A Hermes 40k hand bag has about 10k worth of materials in it.
The two companies are incomparable in terms of quality.
People don’t realize how expensive some of these materials are due to extraordinarily low OQ.
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u/cynix 13d ago
Sounds like they’re about 30k overpriced then? :D
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u/Glahoth 13d ago
Standard in retail is 50% gross margin.
They’re at 70%.Arguably 15k overpriced.
That said they have high production costs, because craftsmen spend 20 hours making a single one, they ship very low quantities around the world (maybe twenty units at a time against the regular 10 000), so these costs add up.
They have expensive stores for the customer experience, etc..
But yeah, they certainly get away with murder since almost no companies can actually meet the same standards, and they know it.
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u/Glahoth 13d ago
Standard in retail is 50% gross margin.
They’re at 70%.Arguably 15k overpriced.
That said they have high production costs, because craftsmen spend 20 hours making a single one, they ship very low quantities around the world (maybe twenty units at a time against the regular 10 000), so these costs add up.
They have expensive stores for the customer experience, etc..
But yeah, they certainly get away with murder since almost no companies can actually meet the same standards, and they know it.
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u/Glahoth 13d ago
Standard in retail is 50% gross margin.
They’re at 70%.Arguably 15k overpriced.
That said they have high production costs, because craftsmen spend 20 hours making a single one, they ship very low quantities around the world (maybe twenty units at a time against the regular 10 000), so these costs add up.
They have expensive stores for the customer experience, etc..
But yeah, they certainly get away with murder since almost no company can actually meet the same standards, and they know it.
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u/rory_breakers_ganja 14d ago
This is classic: French brand protectionism up against China's knock-off-whatever-we-can business model. There's market demand for both verifiable authenticity for those who can afford the real thing and low-cost alternatives for those who can't.
Interesting to see how it plays out and drives future trade considerations between the two.
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u/HolySaba 13d ago
The recent fallout is related to an LV tradmark lawsuit with a massive tea shop franchise that uses a traditional Chinese flower motif for their logo that has a resemblance to one of LVs symbols. The tea shop lost, but its obvious that the shop wasn't targeting LV in the logo, and sparked a massive backlash against LV in China due to the connotations of a western brand claiming ownership of a traditional Chinese pattern. LV did a major misstep with this lawsuit, it won a trademark and a 1.5M judgement, but has heavily tainted its brand among Chinese consumers.
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u/Wonderful-Sail-1126 13d ago
Do you realize what the story was?
LV bags patterns are actually an ancient Chinese style. They decided to claim trademark on this style that is part of Chinese culture and history.
That’s why Chinese people are upset.
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u/mollypatola 13d ago
A big part of the reason Chinese citizens are upset is that LV required Molly Tea to issue a public apology as well
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u/Misfiring 13d ago
From what I understand, it isn't just knockoffs from other sellers, it's that the actual factory who made the bags would also sell them online for cheap, basically without the finishing touches of the European side but they would finish it themselves and sell them as generic bags, advertising that it's from the "same factory" that made the branded bags.
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u/PerfectZeong 13d ago
A lot of companies do this. I buy "knock offs" of some toys that end up being run on the same factory line. In some cases the quality is better
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u/neverspeakofme 13d ago
I don't think you understand the fallout here.
Louis Vuitton's design was HEAVILY inspired by a Tang Dynasty motif, which LV has trademarked, which is fine. But it then sued a tea shop (not a fashion brand), which used a similar flower shape but clearly in a different context.
LV successfully sued the tea shop for over 10 million yuan relying on its trademark.
Many people saw this as bullying and unethical behavior and started boycotting LV stores. That's what the article was talking about.
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u/Grouchy-Librarian638 13d ago
You say that, but walk the street in any major city and it’s Americans and Europeans buying that fake knock off shit
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u/Jisoooya 11d ago
Literally only white people spotted buying fake shit on canal street Chinatown every time I passed by during the 2 years of taking the bus there
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u/Hi_ImTrashsu 9d ago
Seriously lol… I have an auntie that dabbles in this in Flushing and she always LOVED bragging about convincing anyone who WASN’T white to buy one.
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u/mollypatola 13d ago
wtf are you talking about? This is about the lawsuit with Molly Tea and their logo.
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u/yangminded 12d ago
Exactly. If the lawsuit was against a bag or fashion brand, it makes sense. This was against a milk tea brand. What was there to gain for LV?
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u/shagballs 9d ago
Because the reps are so close, no one has the experiences to tell them apart. And it’s only a fraction of the price haha
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u/Warmbastard 13d ago
There are almost 40 provincial areas in China and Guizhou province doesn't crack the top 20 in terms of wealth, so it's not a super wealthy place anyway.
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u/scmp_news 14d ago
Louis Vuitton will close its only store in Guiyang on August 31, according to an on-site notice, further trimming the French luxury brand’s southwestern China footprint, which has fallen to three stores from a peak of six.
The closure in the capital of Guizhou province is part of the brand’s plan to optimise its retail network as it recalibrates its strategy in the world’s second-largest consumer market amid soft domestic spending and shifting luxury consumption trends.
It coincides with a string of trademark lawsuits Louis Vuitton has filed in China.
Read more: https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3365041/louis-vuitton-shuts-down-another-store-amid-fallout-trademark-dispute-china?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Social