"Our products are infringing, what materials do I need to prepare to report the case?" "How can I obtain evidence of manufacturing infringing products......?" It has become the normal work of the intellectual property police officers in Qiantang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province to open the online platform of "Security Enterprise and Common Prosperity" of the Zhejiang government service platform "Zheli Office" to answer questions and solve doubts for enterprises and the masses.
Innovation is the first driving force to lead development, and the protection of intellectual property rights is to protect innovation. In order to further optimize the business environment, in April 2023, Zhejiang established a team of intellectual property police liaison officers (hereinafter referred to as "IP police officers"), and in March 2024, the "Zhejiang Provincial Regulations on Optimizing the Business Environment" came into effect. In this context, the Qiantang Public Security Bureau has established a multi-level intellectual property protection system to deal with the infringement of intellectual property rights of enterprises in a timely manner, so that the "protective power" of the public security organs can become the "confidence" of the business environment.
Eating supper and digging out a big infringement case of 100 million yuan
"I didn't expect my 'occupational disease' to play a big role. Hu Lidong, a police officer from the Environmental and Food and Drug Crime Investigation Brigade of the Qiantang District Public Security Bureau, is a "reconnaissance and strike" intellectual property police officer, and he "dug up" a hidden criminal clue in the process of eating supper.
Back in early September last year, Hu Lidong, who was eating in a restaurant, looked at the flames rising high in the kitchen, and his work habits made him immediately alert. "Is it 1 needle or 2 needles?" he approached to study the needles on the commercial gas stove, and saw that there was only an "ignition needle" and no "flame-out needle", "once the flame is accidentally turned off and the gas path cannot be cut off, there will be a danger of gas leakage." ”
At that time, Zhejiang was carrying out a special rectification of gas safety "black gas" investigation and punishment actions.
Following the line all the way, Hu Lidong followed the production address on the gas stove packaging box and found a suspected production plant. After grasping the basic situation, the Qiantang public security immediately set up a special task force of more than 60 people to crack down on "problem stoves" and went to the production site to collect the net in a centralized manner. administrative buildings, workshops, warehouses, staff dormitories...... The park covers an area of more than 10 acres, and 5 houses are above 3 floors.
"Here!" In an inconspicuous scrap warehouse, Hu Lidong led the team to find more than 300 "problem stoves" hidden behind more than 3 meters of high waste, as well as the ledger records of nearly 10,000 "problem stoves".
After investigation, the suspect knew that the production of gas cookers did not meet national safety standards, but still produced in its manufacturing plant and sold to the outside world, the sales network spread all over the country, the amount involved amounted to more than 110 million yuan, the city's first production and sales of fake and shoddy commercial gas stove case cracked.
The farmhouse found out the key suspect who "marked".
Different from cracking down on and investigating counterfeit and shoddy products, "legal protection" IP police officers are more exposed to trademark infringement cases.
"There are subtle differences like the size, proportions, fonts, and even the placement of the markings. Zhang Lin, a police officer from the Legal Brigade of the Qiantang District Public Security Bureau, said that the identification of trademarks is a science, and finding the items involved in the case and the key suspects is the key to conviction.
IP police officers visit enterprises to understand the product situation.
A few days ago, a well-known bath bomb company in the area was infringed on its trademark. Following the idea of cracking down on sellers and manufacturers in a nest provided by the "legal protection" IP police officer, the "investigation and crackdown" IP police officer started with the online return address and found a small workshop that produced counterfeit products. At the scene, there were headlights, switches, wires and other parts and shoddy products scattered everywhere, but there was no marking equipment in sight.
The IP police officer followed the clues and found the key person in the case in a farmhouse 1 km away from the scene.
"If no suspect is found, the marking machine is destroyed again, and the case hangs in the air. According to the police handling the case, when they rushed into the room, a "marker" was skillfully operating the computer and using the marking machine to engrave two large imitation trademarks.
Qiantang public security confiscated "marking" equipment.
Due to the fact that the price of the imitation bath bomb of the small workshop involved is generally not high, although the core personnel have been arrested one after another, how to complete the evidence collection as soon as possible is the key.
"Don't stick to how much fake bath bomb inventory is left at the scene of the crime, it is recommended to start with the sales amount and focus on the number of sales in the online store. In the group of the "Qiantang Intellectual Property Squad", Li Chunfang, a "planning and design" intellectual property police officer and instructor of the Environmental and Food and Drug Crime Investigation Brigade of the Qiantang District Public Security Bureau, "patted" prosecutor Xu Huan.
Subsequently, the police checked more than 2,000 purchase records through the transaction ledger of the online store and the small workshop, with a sales amount of more than 500,000 yuan, and the case was finally successfully transferred to the district procuratorate for prosecution.
Quick anti-contact group to solve the difficulty of enterprise rights protection
"In terms of copyright, the biggest problem we encounter is similar infringement and similar infringement, the cost of rights protection is large, the attribution is difficult to clarify, and it is difficult to recover civil rights. A "big intellectual property owner" with more than 3,000 doll copyrights said that he hopes that the public security organs and other law enforcement agencies can give strong support to prevent more infringements.
In response to the above needs, the Qiantang District Public Security Bureau issued a set of operational guidelines for intellectual property rights protection by holding an exchange symposium, including a description of the report, appraisal report, trademark registration certificate, power of attorney, etc., to tailor intellectual property protection plans for enterprises and facilitate them to use when reporting and protecting their rights.
In addition, in order to cultivate a fertile business environment, a "Intellectual Property Quick Response Contact Group" came into being, with members involving public security, procuratorates, courts, market supervision bureaus, etc. Relying on mechanisms such as detailed combing, clue transfer, consultation, research and judgment, case handling cooperation, and joint disposal, the group promptly solves difficult and painful problems such as the identification of counterfeit registered trademarks, the fixation of sales evidence on online platforms, and the characterization of trade secret infringement, and deepens the connection between "civil, practical, and criminal" in the field of intellectual property.
It is reported that since the establishment of the Qiantang District Intellectual Property Police Team, a total of more than 10 clues related to intellectual property rights have been transmitted, and 8 intellectual property cases have been cracked, involving an amount of 350 million yuan, forming an overall joint force for intellectual property protection.
Source: Qiantang Public Security, Chinanews Editor: Xiao M