The controversy surrounding the krill oil fraud incident involving Tong Ren Tang has seen new developments. On December 25th, Beijing Tong Ren Tang Group issued a statement declaring that a working group from the Group has fully taken over the operational management of Beijing Tong Ren Tang (Sichuan) Health Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. It has ordered Li Shengyi to resign from his position as General Manager of Sichuan Health and has suspended all other relevant management personnel. Subsequent actions will involve serious disciplinary measures against individuals responsible for dereliction of duty, based on conclusions from government regulatory authorities and internal investigations.
Simultaneously, Tong Ren Tang announced a key finding from its investigation: it was confirmed that the Group's authorization for Sichuan Health to use the "Tong Ren Tang" trade name and trademark expired on March 21, 2021, and has not been renewed.
Sichuan Health has been officially placed under investigation. On the evening of December 20th, the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Xindu District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, released a notice stating that a joint investigation team had been formed and entered the involved company, Beijing Tong Ren Tang (Sichuan) Health Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., to conduct an investigation, and the company has been officially立案 (case filed).
Tong Ren Tang stated that it has submitted supporting documents related to the infringement activities of Sichuan Health. Furthermore, the Group is actively promoting the removal of Sichuan Health's products from shelves, recalling the implicated products, issuing declaration letters to major e-commerce platforms, and conducting daily monitoring to facilitate coordinated cleanup efforts to block the circulation channels of the involved products.
Additionally, Tong Ren Tang Group announced it will publicize an official product information query system to guide consumers in identifying the authentic "Tong Ren Tang" double-dragon logo. On December 23rd, the Tong Ren Tang Group product query system was launched on its official website, offering access to information for over 1,000 products covering categories like Chinese patent medicines and health foods, providing authoritative purchasing guidance.
The Group has initiated a stringent brand management campaign, conducting comprehensive, dragnet-style checks on brand usage across its various tiered enterprises. As of December 24th, cumulative inspections of affiliated units/outlets have exceeded 520 instances.
Since the launch of the brand management campaign, inspections have been conducted on infringing products and store links on major e-commerce platforms, resulting in nearly 600 complaints filed against infringing products. Complaints have been lodged against over 120 unauthorized stores misusing the Tong Ren Tang name, such as "Tong Ren Tang Genuine Direct Sales" and "Beijing Tong Ren Tang Tonic Delicacies," resolutely cracking down on practices like borderline misuse of the "Tong Ren Tang" name and non-standard trademark usage.
In response to Tong Ren Tang's latest statement, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) stated on December 25th that the "Antarctic Krill Oil" incident exposed issues such as non-standard entrusted production and processing practices by enterprises. Some companies leverage their brand influence, focusing solely on sales profits while neglecting quality control, and even condone contracted manufacturers producing and selling substandard products.
It was reported that SAMR will soon release the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Entrusted Food Production," which will bring scenarios like trademark licensing, franchising, processing with supplied materials, and custom production under supervision. The measures will clearly define the food safety responsibilities of both entrusting and entrusted parties and improve relevant regulatory requirements.
SAMR will also guide local market regulatory departments to strengthen supervision over food production entrusted through methods similar to Tong Ren Tang's original equipment manufacturer (OEM) arrangements. In the near term, specialized random inspections will be organized, increasing supervision and sampling efforts for products like krill oil and fish oil on the market, and cracking down severely on related illegal activities.
You Yunting, a partner at Shanghai Dabang Law Firm, commented: "Judging from the latest statement issued by Tong Ren Tang, according to the Trademark Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, the use of the Tong Ren Tang trade name and trademark after the license expired constitutes both infringement and unfair competition. However, the trademark owner, Beijing Tong Ren Tang Group Company, adopted a permissive attitude towards this and did not file any substantive complaints or lawsuits against the infringing products, which constitutes negligence in exercising its trademark rights. Therefore, the management of Tong Ren Tang Group cannot be exempted from responsibility in this matter."
You Yunting further pointed out that regarding the expiration of the trademark license for Tong Ren Tang's subsidiary, consumers were unaware and could only obtain information from the public market. Tong Ren Tang's misleading behavior essentially infringed upon consumers' right to know.
Despite Tong Ren Tang Group's claims of initiating a stringent management campaign and conducting dragnet-style inspections to check for infringing products and store links on key e-commerce platforms, on December 26th, searches on some major e-commerce platforms still revealed Antarctic krill oil products with prominently displayed "Beijing Tong Ren Tang" wording on the packaging, beneath which only the much smaller "Sichuan Health Company" was printed. On one e-commerce platform, a bottle of 60 Antarctic krill oil capsules was being sold for as little as 3 yuan after applying a coupon.
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