Llinks Won the First Unfair Competition Case in China on Behalf of Our Client Involving the Business Model of "Blind Box Online Drawer"

Recently, Llinks lawyers successfully represented the leading domestic blind box brand "Finding Unicorn" in a case against a company in Hangzhou for unfair competition dispute. The second-instance judgment became effective with the case number [(2023) Zhe 01 Min Zhong 6853], where the court ruled in favor of our client, ordering the defendant to cease infringement, eliminate the impact, and compensate the plaintiff for economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling more than 850,000 yuan.

The blind box industry has rapidly developed in recent years, attracting widespread attention. With the continuous expansion of the blind box business model and consumption scenarios, issues such as information opacity and false advertising in the blind box industry have gradually become prominent. On June 8, 2023, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Guidelines for Blind Box Business Behavior (Trial)" to address compliance governance issues among blind box operators at the administrative supervision level.

In this case, Llinks lawyer not only comprehensively protected the client's brand reputation and sought favorable judicial rulings to regulate downstream distribution channels but also represents the first judicial case addressing the unfair competition of the "blind box online draw box machine" and "online draw box presale" business. It holds significant reference value for compliance operation and consumer protection in the blind box industry.

The defendant in this case is a third-party operator of the "blind box online draw box machine" mini-program. During the promotional pre-sale period before the official launch of the plaintiff's new blind box products, they engaged in the presale of new blind box products through online draw box methods. Regarding this "blind box online draw box presale" business model, the court believed that such actions could easily undermine consumer trust in the plaintiff's company and adversely affect the plaintiff's fame, transaction opportunities, and business revenue. This violates the principles of good faith and recognized commercial ethics, damaging consumers' right to information and choice, and negatively impacting the industry ecology by undermining fair competition in the blind box industry, constituting unfair competition.