On May 9, 2007, the French food group Danone filed eight arbitration claims against its Chinese partner Wahaha at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. On September 30, 2009, the two sides announced a settlement. Danone sold its 51 percent stake in their joint ventures for 3 billion yuan and left Wahaha.
Wahaha’s founder Zong Qinghou later said that the company had not understood what trademarks and brands meant, so that its growth “fell into a trap carefully laid by Danone.”