The latest IP win for a major brand in China shows China’s commitment to cracking down on counterfeiting and copyright infringement

In April 2024, a Shanghai court handed a RMB 600 million (£66.5 million) fine to a company for criminal copyright infringement of Lego products and sentenced two key members of the business, brothers Chen XX and Chen YY, to eight and nine years in prison, respectively.

According to China IP Law Update, which translated a notice from Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court, between 2016 and 2022, the company set up design, engineering, and production departments to exactly replicate the Lego bricks and packaging, having purchased authentic Lego products as a reference.

This case is the latest in a series of brushes with copyright infringement in China for Lego. The brand won its first copyright case in 2017, and in 2020, the people behind Lego clone Lepin were handed fines and jail terms.

As China IP Law Update pointed out, Shanghai is becoming somewhat of a “preferred venue for foreign rights holders for enforcement of criminal IP laws.” Also in April, the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court upheld a judgement sentencing a counterfeiter to five years in jail and a RMB 2 million fine.

And stronger IP enforcement is not just limited to Shanghai. Over the past year, courts across China have intensified efforts to crack down on counterfeiting. According to China Daily, punitive damages were applied in 319 IP cases in 2023, an increase of 117% compared to 2022.

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Photo: Brickset, Flickr