Red Bull Vitamin Drink's main shareholder is locking horns with its partner in the Chinese market over a trademark dispute, due to the pending renewal of a trademark licensing agreement that expired last year.

The joint venture was established by two Thai companies: TC Pharmaceutical Industries, the creator and owner of Red Bull energy drink and its trademark, and Reignwood Group, which has a smaller share in the company.

Together, they introduced the popular Red Bull beverage to China on a 20-year licensing agreement, with Chanchai Ruayrungruang, founder of Reignwood, serving as board chairman.

"Whatever the final result might be, the Red Bull trouble sounds the alarm - companies need to develop their own brands and increase trademark awareness," Ning Lizhi, director of the Center for Intellectual Property Rights and Competition Law at Wuhan Unviersity in Hubei province, told China Intellectual Property News based in Beijing.

After two decades of sales in China, Red Bull has grown into a market leader in the energy drink segment with a mature and widespread distribution network across the country.

But after the trademark contract expired in 2016, the companies have yet to reach an agreement on an extension of the authorization contract.

This is partially due to speculation around TC Pharma's potential involvement of another trademark licensee in the joint venture, its subsidiary Red Bull GmbH in Austria, according to Chinese media reports. If true, this could reduce Reignwood's control of the joint venture.