China police seize 500,000 boxes of counterfeit condoms
China's police have seized more than 500,000 boxes of counterfeit condoms which, if authentic, would have had a total value of RMB5 million ($7 million).
The South China Morning Post reported the seizure on Tuesday, November 20.
A total of 17 people in eastern and central China have been arrested for making and selling the fake condoms, and police conare continuing to investigate the case.
Matthew Murphy, partner at MMLC in Beijing, said that unfortunately this is “a fairly regular occurence”.
“I have been doing anti-counterfeiting work in China since 1997, and I can recall reading about raid actions involving counterfeit condoms being made in different parts of China on a fairly regular basis,” he said.
Alan Chiu, managing partner of Ella Cheong & Alan Chiu in Hong Kong, similarly said that this latest raid is the latest in a “string of successful operations” targeting the sale of counterfeit condoms in China.
The condoms, which featured the names of international healthcare brands such as Durex and Okamoto and Chinese brands such as Jissbon and SixSex, were sold to supermarkets, vending machine operators, and hotels.
Authentic versions of the branded condoms cost between RMB20 and RMB150 per pack, but the fakes were sold at the wholesale price of RMB1.
Murphy said that, in other instances, counterfeit condoms have been sold in Chinese markets, too.
The condoms were being made in the Henan and Hubei provinces (both in central China), while a packaging plant, which was also raided, was based in Zhejiang (eastern China).
George Chan, head of Simmons & Simmons’ IP agency in Beijing, noted that another series of raids carried out in Zhejiang in August recovered around RMB50 million worth of counterfeit condoms after “nearly half a year of careful investigation”.
Police said that the manufacturing sites were “simple and crude” with poor hygienic conditions, the Post reported. The process of manufacture was reportedly “totally below official manufacturing standards”.
According to the police, the counterfeits posed a threat to public health, and Chiu added that this poses a reputational risk for brands.
Chiu said: “The Zhejiang case highlights the need for brand owners to devise and implement holistic IP enforcement strategies in China. An effective IP enforcement strategy should include civil actions as well as cooperation and joint actions with the local authorities.”
Murphy said that the counterfeiting of condoms and other pharmaceutical products continues to be a “major problem” for China.
“The authorities are willing to crack down on this, once they locate a seller or a manufacturer, but often it costs time and money for the brand owners to support those raid actions, court actions and criminal prosecutions, which can lead to delays in taking action in some cases,” he added.
In Chan’s opinion, while the Chinese government has made great strides in dealing with counterfeiting, the problem persists due “almost entirely to the potential profits derived from this illegal activity”.
Chiu identified a broader counterfeit challenge that China is facing.
There is a growing trend for online shoppers to take advantage of now mandatory seven-day return policy for e-commerce platforms in China, with scammers using the policy to return counterfeit goods to a seller whilst keeping the authentic ones.
Chiu said: “Brand owners are advised to keep a video record of the process of unpacking parcels of returned goods each time. They should also follow up with each ‘return of fake goods’ case, and complain to the platform/local authorities to avoid others doing the same.”
China is not the only country trying to address the sale of unsafe counterfeits.
Last month, sister site LSIPR reported that the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency had recovered more than £2 million ($2.6 million) worth of counterfeit medication products, including fake condoms.
And earlier this year, the Los Angeles Police Department seized $700,000 worth of counterfeit cosmetics which contained bacteria and faeces in LA’s fashion district.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Today's top stories
EU court dismisses Fruit of the Loom trademark appeal
Kirkland partner joins Neal Gerber in Chicago
