Lingqilin Tea Trademark Infringement Administrative Litigation (May 2026)

This case involves a trademark infringement administrative complaint followed by administrative litigation, with a final judgment delivered in mid-May 2026 . The trademark owner Lin Sen registered the trademark “Lingqilin Big Mouth Tea” for catering services. A franchisee named Wen Chenglian used the mark on her tea shop signs and menus but deliberately reduced the font size of the Chinese character “Ling” and highlighted “Qilin Big Mouth”, making the overall mark highly similar to the registered trademark. The trademark owner filed an administrative complaint to Kunming Wuhua District Market Supervision Bureau in 2024. The bureau confirmed trademark infringement, ordered the shop to rectify and imposed a fine of 130,000 RMB.

Dissatisfied with the penalty, Wen filed an administrative reconsideration, which upheld the original decision. She then initiated administrative litigation, arguing that a previously revoked civil mediation agreement was wrongly used as evidence of her subjective fault. The people’s court held that even without the mediation agreement, on-site inspection records, e-commerce platform sales data and trademark review decisions fully proved the infringement facts. The deliberate modification of part of a registered trademark to create visual similarity falls into the category of confusingly similar trademarks regulated by the Trademark Law. The court dismissed all the plaintiff’s claims and maintained the administrative penalty. This case clarifies two key points for catering franchisees: partial modification of others’ registered trademarks cannot avoid infringement determination; administrative penalties for trademark infringement are based on complete evidence chains rather than a single document. It also reflects the complete remedy procedure for administrative complaint cases: administrative penalty → reconsideration → litigation, forming a full supervision system.