Recently, mainland Chinese actress Zhao Liying has filed a lawsuit against the “Chongqing Half Sugar Attack” food and beverage management company and its chain stores for illegally printing packaging containing Zhao Liying’s image and name, and selling products with them. Surprisingly, when media reporters visited the registered business premises, the company was found to have disappeared without a trace.
According to the announcement from the Chongqing Leshan City Central District Court, Zhao Liying’s lawsuit requests that the defendants, Chongqing Half Sugar Attack Food and Beverage Management Co., Leshan City Central District Cafe Century store, and a third party Henan Weimar Cultural Industry Development Co., Ltd., cease printing, posting or using any promotional materials related to Zhao Liying’s image or name. Additionally, the defendants are requested to issue a public apology and compensate the plaintiff with 510,000 yuan (RMB).
Furthermore, another store of the “Chongqing Half Sugar Attack” company located in the Yunyan District of Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, also faces the same charges and lawsuit.
According to the “Enterprise Check” platform, the “Half Sugar Attack” company was founded in 2021 and operates the coffee brand “Cafe Century”, with chain stores in various provinces and cities nationwide, and a registered capital of 15 million yuan. Information from “Tianyancha” shows that “Cafe Century” coffee completed a Series A financing of 50 million yuan last year.
The specific case involves two stores, one located in the Central District of Leshan City and the other in the Yunyan District of Guiyang City, Guizhou Province. Both cases revolve around personality rights disputes, and the proceedings are currently in the pre-trial investigation stage, with court hearings scheduled for early May.
According to reports from “Cover News”, through research, it was discovered that “Half Sugar Attack” allegedly printed packaging containing others’ images and names without authorization, and sold the products. However, on April 2nd, when reporters called “Half Sugar Attack” and related stores, no one answered the calls.
Even more astonishingly, when reporters visited the registered business premises of “Half Sugar Attack” in the Jiangbei New Area of Chongqing, they found the company had already disappeared without a trace; staff from neighboring businesses informed them that the “Half Sugar Attack” company had moved out several months ago, but their current whereabouts are unknown.
According to “Da Wan News”, in June of last year, Mr. Qiao from Inner Mongolia joined the “Cafe Century” brand and paid 188,000 yuan as a franchise fee to the “Half Sugar Attack” company. On April 3rd, during an interview, he stated that the reason he chose the brand was because of its claim to have Zhao Liying as its endorser. He also revealed, “When I started the agency in June last year, I used packaging and products with Zhao Liying’s image. But later I stopped using them because I realized I had been deceived.”