China has adopted a series of measures to step up investigations and punishments in trademark infringement cases and expand the scope of protection it offers to well-known brand names.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce organized four nationwide campaigns targeting trademark pirating last year.

Law enforcement officials with industry and commerce authorities across the country cracked 51,851 trademark infringement cases, up 51.6 per cent from the previous year, according to statistics released by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Among them, a total of 5,401 foreign-related trademark infringement cases were investigated, an increase of nearly 160 per cent over 2003.

Meanwhile China has formed regional trademark infringement investigation networks covering almost every province, autonomous region and municipality, officials with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce said.

More efforts should be made in combating products that violate the trademarks of well-known brands, said Liu Yanhua, an official with the Beijing Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce.

"Fake brand-named products attract a large number of consumers, causing confusion with genuine ones," Liu said.

To better protect well-known foreign trademarks, Liu's administration has issued a second protection list of well-known brands, outlining products cannot be sold without official authorization.

The brands include 23 registered trademarks of 13 well-known companies from seven countries. They include the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands, with brands such as Cartier, OMEGA, The North Face, Gucci and Hermes involved.

These trademarks are mainly used on consumer goods such as cosmetics, garments and accessories, leather products and wristwatches.

The notice is the second of its kind issued by Beijing authorities.

In July last year, Beijing issued a notice to ban sales of 25 well-known trademarks of four companies from three countries of France, Britain and Luxembourg.

The brand names include Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Chanel and Prada.

The Beijing administration has received calls from other brands, asking to be included on the protection list, since firms believe their products have also often been counterfeited.

Local inspectors seized more than 300 items that appeared to have breached trademark regulations on Beijing's Silk Street market late last month.

A total of 80 handbags and 220 garments bearing Boss, Gucci and Chanel logos were seized.

Earlier last month, the Silk Street moved from its previous site on Jianguomenwai Dajie to an adjacent five-floor mall.

The market was initially famous for selling silk clothes and other traditional clothes but later gained infamy as an easy place to pick up fake designer brands.

Local industry and commerce authorities have urged market administrators to step up efforts to push out those who sell fake brands.

A similar list was announced last October in Shanghai covering several markets and stalls.

Responding to the request of companies concerned, the Shanghai Administration of Industry and Commerce issued a public notice to carry out emphasized protection of 40 well-known trademarks of 10 companies from six countries including France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Britain and Germany.

Moreover, strengthened laws and regulations have laid a solid legal foundation for the protection of trademarks, especially well-known foreign trademarks.

The Supreme People's Court has issued 25 judicial interpretations since 2000, which form a relatively complete intellectual property rights (IPR) protection system.

In December last year, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued a new interpretation to better handle criminal cases of IPR infringement.

China saw trademark registrations soar last year, with up to 588,000 applications, a surge of 30 per cent over the previous year.

Overseas applicants were also on the rise, exceeding 60,000 last year, a 29.82 per cent growth over 2003.

Soaring trademark registrations not only show China's achievements in protecting intellectual property rights, but indicate great confidence in China's investment environment among overseas applicants, legal experts said.

(China Daily 04/18/2005 page5)