The Chinese Court of Guangzhou Yuexiu District has recently sentenced four Chinese companies to pay a fine of around 570.000 EUR for unfair competition and for having infringed LEGO’s copyrights. The four defendants liable for counterfeiting LEGO’s building sets and minifigures under the LEPIN sign are ordered to immediately stop producing and marketing said infringing products.

Niels B. Christiansen, the LEGO Group’s Chief Executive Office, is pleased to welcome this Court’s decision, which should considerably reduce the temptation to unlawfully copy LEGO’s products and which might play a great part in improving the fair business environment of China.

Press release: https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news-room/2018/november/lepin-case/

Nathalie Cailteux

Office Freylinger is pleased to announce that it has become an IPM Official Partner of the World Customs Organization (WCO).

The WCO is an intergovernmental organization representing the interests of 179 customs administrations worldwide. One of the WCO’s main concerns is combating counterfeiting. Customs administrations are on the frontline accounting for 70% of worldwide seizures and 90% of European seizures.  Consequently, the WCO launched an anti-counterfeiting action plan comprised of regional container interception operations and an on-line communication tool called IPM (Interface Public-Members).

IPM is the only truly global anti-counterfeiting tool that serves as an interface between customs officers and the private sector. IPM’s online and mobile application enables right holders to provide customs officers with real-time data on their products facilitating the identification of counterfeit goods.

As an IPM Official Partner, in agreement with our clients, Office Freylinger will now be able to manage the information uploaded in IPM on their behalf and become the main contact point for customs officers.
Olivier Laidebeur: “Joining the IPM initiative gives us a new tool to increase the efficiency of actions taken on behalf of our clients to enforce their IP rights“