The Hanlin Tea Room in Tainan claims to have invented bubble tea in 1986; the Chun Shui Tang tea room in Taichung credits product-development staffer Lin Hsiu Hui with the idea in 1988. The two shops litigated the question for roughly a decade, and a 2019 Taiwanese court ruling declined to assign credit to either side, holding the drink an unpatentable general food product.
What would resolve this A contemporaneous document, receipt, menu or press account from 1986 to 1988 naming tapioca-ball tea at one shop earlier than the other.
OpenCulinary and business history, TaiwanBubble Tea (Wikipedia)