Categories
China Legal & Regulatory

Counterfeit Crackdown in Beijing

Beijing’s Silk Street Market, known for its vast selection of knock-off designer products, is facing increased pressure from domestic lawyers to stop selling counterfeit goods. The market managers have shut down 29 stalls over the last month provoking angry protests from the aggressive vendors.

The recent shut downs are a result of pressure put on the market managers by the Beijing law firm IntellecPro, which specializes in intellectual property rights. The firm represents a collective of Burberry, Gucci, Prada, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton who first filed a trademark violation lawsuit four years ago.

The lawyer representing the vendors claims that his clients are too ignorant to distinguish brand names or real goods from fake. “We don’t read English. We don’t know what the letters mean. We just think it is pretty,” claimed one vender.

The market is an extremely popular tourist attraction in Beijing, reportedly attracting more than 15 million annual visitors – two-thirds of them foreigners.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *