The world's biggest retail company was accused of selling illegal products with the same technical characteristics and structure as the patented weightlifting equipment box produced by the Hefei Andi Body-building Equipment Co of East China's Anhui Province, according to sources from the Higher People's Court of Tianjin, where the case will be tried.

It is reported that more than 200,000 of the patent-infringing boxes have been sold in Wal-Mart stores in the United States since April last year. The boxes were exported through the Tianjin customs office.

The producer of the allegedly infringing product, Taiyuan-based Xinhe Equipment company, has also been accused.

"I obtained the patent for the product in February last year and applied to have it recorded by the General Administration of Customs in October for patent protection," said Hua Jiping, owner of the patent and manager of the Andi company.

When a patent owner suspects infringement, the patent holder can ask customs to track down and hold goods temporarily, after paying a bond of recognizance, according to patent regulations.

"My company has sustained financial losses of more than US$1 million for the infringement of my patent right by the two defendants," claimed Hua.

"We cannot discuss the specifics of this case because it has not yet been settled, and I understand that the other defendant, Xinhe Company, is contesting the validity of the plaintiff's patents," said Maria Rodriguez, manager of international corporate affairs for Wal-Mart, in an exclusive interview.

"We operate our business ethically and legally in all the countries we serve, including China," emphasized Rodriguez.

Manager of the Xinhe company Wang Zhi said: "The plaintiff did not provide any proof of our so-called infringement to the court."

However, Gao Fengming, an official from the State Intellectual Property Office in charge of examination of patents for utility models, said this kind of patent, despite its complexity, is protected by the amendments to the Patent Law, which went into effect last July.

Xinhe's Wang also said they began to produce the product in 1997, three years earlier than Hua got the patent. But he admitted that his company has never applied for a patent.

Wal-Mart directly imported more than US$4 billion worth of merchandise from hundreds of Chinese manufacturers last year, according to Rodriguez.

Wal-Mart, which has 14 chain stores in China, was also accused of selling bean curd that failed to meet hygienic standards last month in a district court in Shenzhen.

(China Daily 09/21/2001)