A Nanjing retailer is among the companies nationwide which have recently been penalised for infringement of the exclusive rights of the Olympic symbols. A fine of ¥240,000 was handed to the company for using the Olympic rings on face masks it was selling.
On 14 February, the 2022 Beijing Media Centre (2022北京新闻中心) held a press conference on comprehensively strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights relating to the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.
Therein, Wang Songlin, Deputy Director of the Law Enforcement Inspection Bureau for the State Administration of Market Supervision, introduced the situation.
Wang began by stressing that the Administration has always regarded the protection of Olympic symbols as an important part of intellectual property law enforcement.
Since last year, local market supervision departments have investigated and dealt with more than 240 cases of infringement of the exclusive rights of the Olympic symbols.
In the case of Nanjing, it was revealed that Nanjing Niuxu Trading Co., Ltd. (南京纽絮商贸有限公司) was found to be selling masks infringing the exclusive rights of the Olympic logo.
While the company sold masks printed with the five Olympic rings in their online stores, it was also found to be making false publicity regarding the protection level of the masks.
As a result, the Nanjing Market Supervision Bureau confiscated the infringing masks and fined the company in excess of ¥240,000, reports The Paper.
Niuxu Trading is registered at 88 Gaohua Zhongxin Lu of Tangquan Subdistrict in Pukou District. Mainy engaged in the retail of apparel, its business licence includes the sale of non-medical, daily-use face masks.
Back in Beijing, the press conference also reported that in addition to the illegal use of the Olympic symbols on products, other incidents of copyright infringement largely comprised use of the Games’ logo in advertising and on websites.
