Chinese companies infringe copyright of Indian brands; sell fake products

Chinese companies are selling fake products in India by infringing upon copyright or trademark of Indian brands or products, cited the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday. 

"Embassy of India has come across some instances of Chinese companies infringing upon copyright/trademark of Indian brands/products such as Natraj, Raymond, JK Files and Tools, Fevicol, Onida, Godrej, Boroplus, Dabur, Mida & Company and some Indian incense stick brands," Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Monday. 

Indian customs recently booked two cases wherein popular Indian brands manufactured in India were imported.

These two cases of selling fake products by Chinese exporters belong to the country's cosmetics brands like Lotus and Lakme, Ponds and Fair & Lovely.

Indian brand Lotus manufactured by M/s Kanidi Cosmeceuticals in Solan in Himachal Pradesh was imported by M/s Shiva Enterprises for tentative value of Rs 11,34,360, showed the Ministry of Commerce and Industry data. 

Other brands like Lakme, Ponds and Fair & Lovely manufactured by M/s Hindustan Unilever Limited, Uttarakhand, M/s Hindustan Unilever Limited, Andheri, Mumbai, and  M/s Schwan Stabilo, marketed by Hindustan Unilever was imported at tentative value of Rs 2,27,89,518. 

Sitharaman further said, "On receipt of complaints from Indian companies, the cases of copyright or trademark violations are taken up at appropriate level with relevant Government agencies in China by Embassy of India, Beijing."

China recognises a “first to file” system, which means that the rights of trademark belongs to the first person/company who properly registers the trademark in China, she noted.

"The Chinese side has acted upon few of the cases by allowing the Indian companies to register with the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of China. However, the onus of trademark registration and protection in China lies on the enterprises concerned," Sitharaman said in a statement. 

As per the extant rules in China, the individual enterprise has to file a case in relevant forum by hiring a law firm on reported instances of trademark or copyright infringements, the statement added.