VIII. A series of cases investigated and dealt with by the Yuzhong District Market Supervision Bureau of Chongqing Municipality involving a clothing store and others for infringing on the exclusive rights of the registered trademarks “GUCCI” and “LV”.

 

Case Overview

Since 2024, according to reports from shopping mall organizers and some brand operators in the Jiefangbei commercial district, there have been suspected cases of selling goods infringing on registered trademark rights in some buildings within the district. Based on reports from rights holders and shared leads with the Yuzhong District Public Security Bureau, the Yuzhong District Market Supervision Bureau of Chongqing Municipality, after in-depth analysis, established a special task force in conjunction with the Jiefangbei CBD Management Committee and the Yuzhong District Public Security Bureau. The task force conducted surprise inspections of five hidden businesses, including a clothing store in Yuzhong District and a business owned by Mr. Wu, located in the Jiefangbei commercial district. A total of 682 items, including clothing and bags bearing the logos of internationally renowned brands such as “GUCCI,” “LV,” “PRADA,” “Burberry,” “CHANEL,” “HERMES,” and “DIOR,” were seized on-site. The rights holders identified these as infringing goods. Enforcement officers immediately seized the infringing goods according to law.

Processing Result

The market supervision department imposed administrative penalties on the above five parties for selling infringing registered trademarks in the building, confiscating a total of 682 infringing goods and imposing fines and confiscations of 564,300 RMB.

Typical Significance

 In this series of cases, the businesses involved adopted a highly covert operating model, using “Yangerke” (a form of advertising) to attract customers in commercial areas and employing a novel illegal business model of “operating behind closed doors with surveillance and sentry duty” to evade law enforcement supervision. The Yuzhong District Market Supervision Bureau, through a rapid linkage model involving pre-emptive police intervention, follow-up investigations by market supervision, and technical support from rights holders, solved the problem of enforcement in concealed spaces, providing replicable practical experience for investigating and handling infringement cases in concealed spaces.

                                                                                                                                            Source. www.samr.gov.cn