For two Chinese makers of baby carriages, the business of designing and producing strollers is far from child's play, especially if one pirates the patents of the other.

Goodbaby Group from Jiangsu province, the world's largest maker of strollers, recently prevailed in a lawsuit against Baobaohao Co Ltd from Guangdong province for making carriage wheels that use its design.

Goodbaby filed the suit two years ago, alleging Baobaohao infringed on its patented design of baby stroller wheels, and asked the company to stop manufacturing and selling products with the pirated design.

"We registered the design patent for the wheel in June 2001," said Wei Yaochang, director of Goodbaby's legal affairs department.

In defense, Tang Xiyou, who represented Baobaohao in the court case, said in an interview with local media that the company did not manufacture the wheels.

"We only purchased the wheels and used them on our own products. According to Chinese regulations, patent infringement should only be judged when manufacturing the product in question," Tang said.

Yet after comparing the wheels from both companies' baby carriages, the court found that Baobaohao changed some details, then used Goodbaby's design in its strollers.

According to the Nanjing Intermediate People's Court, the defendant reduced the size of the wheel and changed the core color to blue, which showed it indeed used Goodbaby's original design.

In its verdict the court ruled that Baobaohao must pay 500,000 yuan to Goodbaby and stop manufacturing and selling the products in dispute.

The two parties were involved in a similar case in 2003 over the design of wrapping on the handles of baby strollers.

In that case Goodbaby accused Baobaohao of pirating its registered patent for protective wrapping on handles.

The local court also ruled against Baobaohao in that case and levied 500,000 yuan in damages that must be paid to Goodbaby.

"We pay great attention to brand building, quality control and intellectual property right protection," said Song Zhenghuan, president of Goodbaby Group.

"The reason is that all our efforts are connected with hundreds and thousands of families around the world and linked with a brighter life for our next generation," Song said.

Brand awareness

According to the website of the Jiangsu provincial commerce bureau, companies from the manufacturing-intensive province are frequently involved in trademark infringement and patent piracy cases due to low awareness of brand building and IPR protection.

Yet among them Goodbaby stands out for its efforts in IPR protection.

Because Goodbaby now has stores in more than 40 countries, Song said it is crucial for the company to make IPR protection a major strategy in its ongoing management.

"For those of who see China's products as low-tech, we are keen to be known as a technology-driven manufacturer of baby products," he said.

Using its own research and development, Goodbaby has integrated IPR protection into its whole process for more than 10 years.

"We clearly see that along with China's booming economy, more and more Chinese corporations struggle with patent piracy and trademark infringement in global business competition," Song said.

After more than 20 years of international business, Goodbaby has 40 percent of baby carriage market in the US and an 80 percent share of the market in China.

The global financial crisis has hurt Goodbaby's exports, but the firm is still keen to expand its international market share - and continue its work on IPR protection, Song said.

China Intellectual Property News contributed to the story

(China Daily 06/22/2009 page9)