(Yicai) Dec. 20 -- Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee has not yet verified a rumor about a new court case filed by its Thai competitor, asking for a compensation of THB10 billion (USD286 million) for loss linked to an earlier intellectual property dispute.

Xiamen-based Luckin Coffee said the rumor has yet to be confirmed as it reposted a Weibo article about a Thai court accepting another case by 50R Group which registered the same coffee trademark in Thailand before the Chinese company.

50R Group, which started operating Luckin Coffee-branded stores in Thailand in December 2020, requests China's Luckin Coffee to compensate for an economic loss of THB10 billion, per several Thai media reports.

The alleged loss is linked to an earlier courtroom battle. China’s Luckin Coffee, which runs over 13,000 stores around the globe, had forced 50R to stop using the trademark and seized its property many times before the latest verdict on Dec. 1, per the Thai firm which also mentioned high legal expenses.

50R won the previous case early this month after appealing the Thai court’s first-instance ruling which had China’s Luckin Coffee originally winning the legal battle.

China’s Luckin Coffee, founded in 2017, said in August last year that the Thai stores bearing the same name were counterfeits. When it was launching its business in the Southeast Asian country in 2021 it discovered that the trademark was previously registered by 50R. The Chinese firm then proceeded to sue various parties in Thailand over the trademark.

50R set up Thailand's Luckin Coffee in March 2019. Based on social media photos, the only difference from the Chinese brand is that the deer in its logo faces left, while that in its namesake's logo faces right.

Editors: Shi Yi, Emmi Laine