Foreign influence adds to IPR crimes

The crime of intellectual property rights infringement in the city had involved an increasing number of foreign factors since China's accession to the World Trade Organization, a report by the Shanghai Higher People's Court said yesterday.

Since 2002, the proportion of concluded IPR cases involving foreign parties has risen annually, reaching 11.3 percent last year, the report said.

Targets were usually internationally famous commodities or trademarks on shoes, cosmetics, garments, leather bag, chemical products and automotive accessories, said Judge Ying Xinlong, vice president of Shanghai Higher People's Court.

The claimants in the cases were mainly enterprises from countries such as the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Holland, Ying said. Trademarks including Nike, Johnson & Johnson, Esprit, Levi's and BP were involved.

Among IPR criminal cases, trademark infringement accounted for 80 percent from 2002 to 2006 and 69 percent in 2007, the judge said.

There were also cases where foreign defendants committed crimes in collusion with Chinese. In 2005, both Shanghai No. 1 and No. 2 Intermediate People's Courts concluded one such criminal case, involving three foreigners.

Shanghai Higher People's Court said courts in the city had strictly followed the principle of National Treatment, to equally protect the legitimate rights and interests of both Chinese and foreign rights owners.