Chatime Malaysia Sdn Bhd yesterday issued a legal letter to Loob Holding Sdn Bhd for the misrepresentation and defamation on Chatime implying that the brand had been replaced and renamed as Tealive.
Chatime Malaysia group managing director Aliza Ali said Loob Holding had deliberately misrepresented and misled the public that Chatime had been renamed and is now operating as Tealive in Malaysia.
It said this was done through headlines on the Loob Holding website, particularly two headlines “Chatime renamed as Tealive” and “Tealive replaced Chatime” that falsely indicate that Chatime was renamed to Tealive.
“We have given them a considerably long grace period of one year to rectify the issue, unfortunately Loob Holding’s website still holds the two headlines ‘Chatime renamed to Tealive’ and ‘Tealive ganti Chatime’, with a new headline that reads ‘Tealive replaced Chatime’,” said Aliza.
She said this was published as recent as February 2018; all of which have led the public to believe that Chatime has ceased to exist as a result.
“These misleading statements from Loob Holding have cost us our goodwill and our brand, as such we felt obliged to address the confusion and safeguard Chatime’s reputation in both Malaysia, as well as at an international level,” said Chatime Malaysia executive director Widayu Latiff.
A year after taking over the Chatime market in Malaysia as its master franchisee, Aliza said that it is now taking on necessary steps to protect the brand, which may include legal proceedings.