China News Service, Shanghai, September 25 (Reporter Gao Meng) The moment the door was opened, the filling machine roared, and the pungent smell of fragrance floated in the air... This is the scene when a fake "Bee Flower" shampoo den was investigated.
"Fenghua" is a classic domestic brand in Shanghai, and its intellectual property rights carry the company's long-term operating results and national brand value. Recently, reporters followed the "New Media Visits to the Grassroots to See Prosecution" activity in Shanghai and learned about the Minhang District Procuratorate's performance of intellectual property prosecution duties, from protecting old domestic product trademarks to protecting aerospace trade secrets.
The legal service station is located at the "Da Zero Bay" Government Service Sub-Center in Minhang District, Shanghai. Photo by Gao Meng
Consumers complained that "Bee Flower" shampoo was irritating and caused hair loss after use. However, the company's product quality inspection over the years has not caused any problems. So what is the reason? Li Ying, prosecutor of the Minhang District Procuratorate, said that in 2024, the intellectual property prosecutor of the Minhang District Procuratorate received such a clue. Relying on the working mechanisms of the Coordinating Investigation Office, the "Deputy Director of Legal Affairs of the Science and Technology Innovation Park" and the "MIP" one-stop intellectual property protection platform, prosecutors and the public security organs traced the IP of the online store together and locked the counterfeiting factory of Li Moumou located in a village outside the city. The account books seized at the scene showed that Li Moumou not only sold fake goods, but also purchased naked bottles and labeled them himself, forming a black chain of "production, supply and marketing."
After the public security organ transferred the case for review and prosecution for the crime of selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks, the procuratorate found that the defendant had subsequently engaged in counterfeit production and labeling, and finally added the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks, forming a closed loop of "double crimes and concurrent prosecution" with ironclad evidence. At the same time, the Deputy Prosecutor General, as the "Deputy Director of the Rule of Law" of the Science and Technology Innovation Park, also led prosecutors to visit companies on the spot, and gave specific opinions on issues raised by companies such as brands being widely counterfeited on e-commerce platforms, high rights protection costs, and difficulty in off-site investigation and evidence collection. He helped companies protect their rights in accordance with the law and encouraged suspects and rights holders to proactively reach a settlement agreement of 220,000 yuan in compensation to help recover losses.
It is understood that the Minhang District of Shanghai, where the company involved is located, is home to the "Big Zero Bay" scientific and technological innovation source functional area and the "Rocket Star City" commercial aerospace industry cluster. Integrated circuits, commercial aerospace, low-altitude economy and other industries are developing rapidly, and the demand for intellectual property protection of scientific and technological innovation entities continues to grow.
"Intellectual property protection is not the work of a single unit, but requires collaborative management." Li Ying said that the handling of the "Fenghua" case benefited from the MIP one-stop intellectual property protection platform (M stands for Minhang, IP stands for intellectual property, and P stands for prosecution) led by the Minhang District Procuratorate. Through the joint cooperation between the procuratorial organs and courts, public security, market supervision, cultural tourism and other units, corporate intellectual property rights are more efficiently and smoothly maintained.
The relevant person in charge of the legal department of the "Big Zero Bay" Group said that promoting companies to actively protect intellectual property rights is a step-by-step process. When initially collecting corporate doubts and appeals, many companies did not pay attention to them. However, in recent years, as science and technology companies have encountered more problems in terms of trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, etc., companies will need more help from prosecutors. “Compared with safeguarding rights after the fact, the procuratorate’s proactive and preventive legal services can help companies avoid unnecessary intellectual property risks.”
Li Ying introduced that in addition to linking multiple units, the MIP mechanism also integrates industry associations, science and technology parks, scientific research universities and other resources to form the MIP Intellectual Property Protection Alliance. Online, the platform has been upgraded to access "one-stop service" and "sponsored application", allowing companies to submit infringement clues and apply for legal consultation with one click. Taking "Big Zero Bay" as an example, the procuratorate has adopted a combination of "platform + station + tour activities" to protect enterprises. At the same time, it is providing full-coverage, multi-level, one-stop intellectual property collaborative protection for enterprises in the region.
Minhang District’s “Rocket Star City” is an important hub for Shanghai’s commercial aerospace industry, with prominent legal risks such as trade secret leakage, data security, insider crimes, and supply chain infringement. Lu Chao, assistant prosecutor of the Minhang District Procuratorate, told reporters that the Minhang District Procuratorate issued relevant opinions and set up a special aviation economic prosecution service workstation, and handled the case of Lin Moumou and five others infringing trade secrets in the aerospace field, and the "black flight" of drones and other aerospace-related cases, striving to protect the safety of core aerospace technologies.
From old domestic products to commercial aerospace, from integrated circuits to artificial intelligence, the Minhang District Procuratorate is using one-step legal services and multi-party coordinated governance to provide stable legal protection for the intellectual property rights protection of regional science and technology innovation enterprises. (over)
