Chanel Responds: Researching Camellia Skincare Products for 20 Years

In response that Sun Laichun, founder of Chinese skincare brand Forest Cabin, accusing Chanel of launching a series of red camellia skincare products, Chanel responded that it has been researching camellia skincare products for more than 20 years.

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A few days ago, Sun Laichun, founder of Chinese beauty brand Forest Cabin, recently accused French brand Chanel of entering the sector of "red camellia skincare" at the beginning of the New Year, which is a "premeditated" declaration of war. Chanel responded: "Chanel has led an ambitious research focused on camellia beauty products together with globally renowned experts and partners for more than 20 years."

In a published statement, Chanel said that it has an exclusive camellia plantation and botanical analysis laboratory in Goyac, France. Chanel's Camellia moisturizing line has been on the market for 10 years, and Camellia has never changed as the core of Chanel's skin care products.

Chanel also said that Gabrielle Chanel pinned a camellia flower to her waist in 1913 in Etretat, France. Since then, the camellia has become a symbolic symbol of Chanel and it is used in clothing, watches, fine jewelry, perfume, makeup and skin care products.

A few hours after Chanel's response, Sun Laichun on Chinese social media platforms again, the content is "tribute to science and technology: Forest Cabin obtained 64 patents in 10 years". His post can be interpreted combined with Chanel's response: "Although Chanel developed camellia earlier, Forest Cabin obtained more patents in research and development."

An attorney Feng Zichen from Beijing Hairun Law Firm said, Chanel "red camellia skin care products" may have formed a competitive relationship with Forest Cabin. But only the launch of the same sector of products does not mean that Chanel constitutes unfair competition.

For Chanel "poaching" from Forest Cabin, Feng Zichen said in the absence of instigation, luring and other ways to disclose the original employer's commercial and technical secrets, the normal workers to replace the employer can not indicate that the new employer constitutes unfair competition. "So I think at the moment Chanel does not violate the principle of fair competition, conduct unfair competition and other acts that violate Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China."

Feng Zichen also pointed out that the full text posted by Sun Laichun did not explicitly accuse Chanel of "unfair competition" under the law. It is biased that directly accusing Chanel of unfair competition. But Sun Laichun said in the text that "Chanel did not put much energy in the skincare research and factories and most of its products are produced by OEM in various countries. It also didn’t have the advantage of the raw material of Forest Cabin's 10,000 mu planting base. This species can not be planted in Europe and America, so Chanel does not have the genetic conditions to launch red camellia skincare products". If there is no conclusive evidence, there is a possibility of violating Article 11 of China's Anti-Unfair Competition Law, which states that "operators shall not fabricate or disseminate false or misleading information to damage the business reputation and product reputation of competitors do not exist.