Chinese Companies Are IPR Victims Too

Lin Meilian wrote for the Global Times (China's answer to the BBC or France24) an article about a Chinese company whose IPR is being faked.

Ms Lin writes: "The report in Shenzhen-based Jing Bao quoted Fang Zhen, marketing manager of Crastal Technology (Shenzhen) Company, saying that some of the company's patented products were found to be copied overseas and then imported back to China."

In the article it becomes clear that in order to protect your invention it is essential to file for a patent application and in order to enforce your patent to register it at the customs.

Of course more Chinese inventions, brands and creative works are copied by foreign companies.

According Ms Lin, the procuratorate of Haidian district in Beijing revealed that trademark infringements represent 95 percent of all IPR cases. Of these cases 30 percent involved counterfeiting of the trademarks of local brands.

Read Ms Lin's article here.

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Jail Time For Exporters Of Phones That Are Genuine Inside, Counterfeited Outside

Interfax China reports about four people that were found guilty in October by a people's court in Guangzhou of infringing trademark rights because they were exporting counterfeit phones. Zhang and Xu were sentenced to nine months and two persons both named Lin were sentenced eight months in prison

The inside of the phones consisted out of second hand components and the outside were new shells branded as Motorola or Philips.

Customs of Huangpu, a city 15 kilometers from Guangzhou, "captured 17,893 counterfeit Motorola and Philips phones at the port and the factories valued at approximately RMB 730,000 ($93,590), along with a large number of second-hand mobile phones, phone components and tools used in the reassembly. In April, the Huangpu Customs transferred the captured phones to the local police department and provided the police the exporting company's customs clearance record since December 2004."

After much criticism China committed itself to transferring more cases from customs or other administrative authorities to the Public Security Bureau (police) or the people's procuratorate for criminal enforcement.

Read the Infofax China article here.

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