The Chinese Government has continued to step up its fight against counterfeiting in recent years, prompted by the spread of fake products damaging many transnationals by using their world-famous brand names.

A survey released at the end of July by the Quality Brands Protection Committee under the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (CAEFI) shows that counterfeiters lost some market share from 1999 to 2001 although the quantity of fake products did not decline.

More than half of the 213 enterprises surveyed said the counterfeiting problem had improved after the government launched a nationwide campaign in 2001. A similar survey by the Development Research Center (DRC) in 1999 found nearly three quarters of enterprises saying the situation was deteriorating.

Official statistics show that the market value of counterfeit goods seized during the past two years was estimated at 5.6 billion yuan (US$677 million).

The public security departments of Shenzhen and Dongguan cities, south China's Guangdong Province, recently launched a joint crackdown on a criminal gang counterfeiting ink cartridges labeled Epson, a Japanese brand, seizing over 30,000 fake cartridges and 300,000 fake packages.

Local police officials said the move helped Epson and other transnationals recover confidence in the investment environment of the Pearl River Delta, one of China's richest regions.

Meanwhile, the "Crocodile" trademark dispute case, which attracted wide attention, ended in late October, with the two " Crocodile" clothing firms, France-based Lacoste and Hong Kong- based Crocodile, finally reaching an agreement.

The decision in the four-year lawsuit was considered by insiders to be a good sign of more mature intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and mediation efforts by IPR departments.

A statement released on Oct. 23 also said the two companies would fight pirated products to protect their common interests in the Chinese market.

Bernard Lacoste, chairman of Lacoste, regarded China's improved IPR protection as a significant signal, saying many international organizations would be glad to know Chinese authorities were focusing on protecting name brands.

The office of the national leading group for rectifying and regulating market economic order has launched a special communication and coordination mechanism, aiming to offer government departments a channel for collecting suggestions from foreign-funded enterprises on the fight against counterfeiting, IPR protection and investment environment improvement.

Wang Bingnan, secretary-general of the office, said the government would reinforce the crackdown on fake products and rectify market order to create a better environment for overseas investors.

(China Daily November 12, 2003)