On July 19, 2026, Singapore newspaper Lianhe Zaobao reported that some public opinion in China is raising concerns, asking "Isn't this excessive protection of rights?" regarding the successive lawsuits filed by French luxury brand Louis Vuitton (LV) and jewelry brand Tiffany, under the same LVMH Group, against Chinese companies for trademark infringement.

The article introduced that in a lawsuit where LV had sued Chinese tea beverage brand Moli Naibai (茉莉奶白) for trademark infringement, a court in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, at the end of June, recognized that the four-leaf floral pattern used by Moli Naibai infringed on LV's exclusive trademark rights and issued a first-instance ruling ordering compensation exceeding 10.3 million yuan (approximately 220 million yen).

It then reported that Moli Naibai indicated its intention to appeal, and voices of opposition to the ruling spread within China, with views emerging such as "The four-leaf floral pattern originates from traditional Chinese patterns" and "The amount of compensation is too high."

The article stated that other lawsuits by the LVMH Group are also successively coming to light, and introduced that LV filed an administrative lawsuit against the China National Intellectual Property Administration, with a hearing held at the Beijing Intellectual Property Court on July 16, and also sued a general merchandise store in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, for trademark infringement, which resulted in a first-instance ruling last year ordering compensation of 40,000 yuan (approximately 850,000 yen).

Furthermore, it reported that Tiffany also sued Chinese sanitary product brand Aifuni (艾芙尼) for trademark infringement, and the Beijing High People's Court heard the case on the 9th of this month.

The article introduced that posts like "Large foreign brands are trying to pick a fight with China again" spread on Chinese social media, and there are also movements calling for a boycott of LV. It also reported that commentaries from Chinese domestic media include arguments such as "The public's backlash is against a hegemonic act that privatizes symbols of public culture passed down for a thousand years and expands the scope of accountability" and "There is a possibility that Chinese domestic brands will gradually be squeezed out."

Furthermore, an expert's view on this series of lawsuits stated that this is a sign that international luxury brands are shifting their strategy from traditional anti-counterfeiting measures to the detailed monopolization of brand identification elements.

On top of that, it was pointed out that in China, where SNS culture is developing, international brand lawsuits are easily elevated to ethnic conflicts, making cultural empathy indispensable for the protection of rights of cross-border brands. It was argued that even if they win legally, if they harm the cultural identity of the local populace, they will essentially incur significant commercial losses. (Translated and edited by Kawashiri)