It's exactly the same bottled water with healthy and
energetic-looking pop star Wang Lee-Hom as the endorser.
But the water, under the Wahaha brand name, has hit turbulent
times as it is now part of a bitter dispute over ownership of the
well-known brand.
French food giant Groupe Danone SA said yesterday it filed a
counterclaim with an arbitrator in Hangzhou, capital of East
China's Zhejiang Province, rejecting statements made by its Chinese
joint venture partner Wahaha Group in a trademark dispute.
Danone's latest legal action comes in response to Wahaha Group's
request last month for arbitration in Hangzhou to seek termination
of a 1996 trademark transfer agreement it signed with joint venture
partner Danone. Wahaha alleged the agreement failed to get approval
from China's State trademark office.
Danone and Wahaha have exchanged lawsuits and arbitration claims
in three nations in recent months, with both sides employing teams
of lawyers in an increasingly contentious dispute that has cast a
dark cloud over the once-successful Sino-foreign commercial
partnership.
"Danone believes the arbitration application of Wahaha is
intended to achieve its ultimate purpose of not transferring its
trademarks by making excuses," Danone legal counsel Randall Lewis
said at a press conference yesterday.
He said the actions of Wahaha violate the 1996 agreement, and
deviate from the fundamental principles of good faith and business
ethics.
The breach of the joint venture agreement has caused substantial
economic losses to it, he said.
Danone said the joint venture paid 50 million yuan in cash to
Wahaha for the transfer of the trademark, which was approved by the
Hangzhou government.
(China Daily July 13, 2007)
