The Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court has issued a first-instance judgment in the unfair competition lawsuit filed by POP MART against NAYUKI. The court ruled that Shenzhen Pindao Catering Management Co., Ltd., the company operating the NAYUKI brand, engaged in unfair competition. The court has ordered the defendant to compensate Beijing POP MART Culture Creative Co., Ltd. for economic losses amounting to 300,000 yuan and for reasonable legal costs of 20,000 yuan. Neither party has appealed, and the judgment is now legally effective.
The case originated from a themed marketing campaign launched by NAYUKI in September 2025. During this campaign, which was promoted in its stores, on its official WeChat public account, and via mini-programs, NAYUKI named several beverages "Mibubu." The promotional materials featured the artistic image of "LABUBU" and used slogans such as "Drink Mibubu, Win LABUBU," "Bubus Assemble! Drink for Free, Win LABUBU!" and "MIBUBU Brings Bubus, Drink for Free."
In its ruling, the court stated that the identifiers "LABUBU," "Mibubu," and "Bubu," which were prominently used in the defendant's promotions, were identical or highly similar to the product name "LABUBU." This usage was likely to cause consumers to mistakenly believe there was a specific commercial association, licensing agreement, or sponsorship between the NAYUKI brand and the "LABUBU" trendy toy brand, leading to confusion and constituting an act of unfair competition.
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