/>iOn June 10, 2025, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced the 7 Typical Cases of Trademark Administrative Enforcement for 2024 (市场监管总局公布7件商标行政执法典型案例). Administrative enforcement provides an alternative route to IP litigation and criminal prosecution but does not provide damages. Note that administrative enforcement is not mutually exclusive to litigation and criminal prosecution – all three mechanisms may be used and administrative enforcement cases are regularly referred for criminal prosecution.
Regarding the cases, SAMR explained that “in 2024, local market supervision departments carried out in-depth special law enforcement actions to protect intellectual property rights, equally protected the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign trademark rights holders, effectively safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and achieved positive results.”
As explained by SAMR:
Case 1: The Market Supervision Bureau of Changshu City, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province investigated and dealt with Suzhou Kaidong Garment Accessories Co., Ltd. for producing and selling goods that infringed the exclusive right of the “YKK” registered trademark
In March 2024, the Market Supervision Bureau of Changshu City, Jiangsu Province investigated and dealt with the case of Suzhou Kaidong Clothing Accessories Co., Ltd. producing and selling goods that infringed the exclusive rights of the registered trademark “YKK”. The parties’ actions were suspected of constituting a crime and the case has been transferred to the public security organs for handling.
In January 2024, when investigating a case in which an online store opened by Suzhou Ziyin Clothing Co., Ltd. was suspected of selling infringing clothing, Changshu Market Supervision Bureau found important illegal evidence of upstream suppliers, and organized a team of personnel to investigate. On March 21, Changshu Market Supervision Bureau and the public security department inspected Suzhou Kaidong Garment Accessories Co., Ltd., and found 1,261 zippers with the “YKK” logo and more than 1.08 million zipper heads with the “YKK” logo on site. After identification by the right holder, they were all goods that infringed the exclusive right to use a registered trademark. Upon investigation, the illegal business volume of the party concerned was more than 1.5 million RMB. The party’s behavior violated the provisions of Article 57 (3) of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China and was suspected of constituting a crime. In accordance with the provisions of Article 27, paragraph 1 of the Administrative Penalty Law of the People’s Republic of China and Article 3 of the Provisions on the Transfer of Suspected Criminal Cases by Administrative Law Enforcement Agencies, Changshu Market Supervision Bureau transferred the case to Changshu Public Security Bureau for handling.
This case involves many people, a wide geographical area, and a large amount of money. The criminals have a clear division of labor, forming a complete black industry chain of counterfeiting and selling fakes. The Changshu Municipal Market Supervision Bureau and the Municipal Public Security Bureau set up a special task force for the “YKK” series of cases to severely crack down on the black industry chain of counterfeiting and selling fakes, and protect intellectual property rights and consumer rights.
Case 2: Shanghai Yangpu District Market Supervision Bureau investigated and punished Shanghai Aidoujun Culture Communication Co., Ltd. for facilitating the infringement of others’ exclusive rights to registered trademarks
In September 2024, the Yangpu District Market Supervision Bureau of Shanghai imposed administrative penalties on Shanghai Aidoujun Culture Communication Co., Ltd. for the illegal act of facilitating infringement of the exclusive rights of others’ registered trademarks, imposed a fine of 660,000 RMB, and transferred relevant evidence of counterfeit sales to the local market supervision department.
In April 2024, when the bureau visited an Internet video platform, it learned that a number of videos promoting counterfeit sports shoes of internationally renowned brands such as Nike and Louis Vuitton had recently appeared. Although the platform had taken management measures such as video removal and account banning, it was unable to accurately locate and combat the dissemination chain because it had no direct communication channels with the trademark right holders. Law enforcement officers quickly contacted the relevant trademark right holders, and with the close cooperation of the trademark right holders and the platform operators, they locked the source of counterfeiting and the promotion and marketing industry chain behind it. Upon investigation, it was found that the party, as an advertising agent, provided traffic promotion services for 4 counterfeit videos without reviewing the video content, and collected a total of 330,000 RMB in promotion fees. The above-mentioned behavior of the party constituted an infringement as stipulated in Article 57 (6) of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China and Article 75 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China, and the Yangpu District Market Supervision Bureau imposed administrative penalties in accordance with the law.
The sale of counterfeit goods through live streaming is highly concealed and has strong transmission power, and the production, promotion, and sales links are highly dispersed, which brings challenges to supervision. This case promptly cut off the chain of counterfeiters who spread the goods through online platforms and transferred the evidence to the local market supervision department to achieve a full-chain crackdown. After the case, the supervision department convened a meeting with e-commerce platforms and trademark rights holders to smooth the mechanism for exchanging evidence of illegal activity, deepen the cooperative relationship between trademark rights holders and platforms, and achieve win-win development.
Case 3: Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision Bureau organized an investigation into the production and sale of a series of cartoon card products that infringed the exclusive rights of the registered trademark “Kayou”
In 2024, the Dongguan Municipal Market Supervision Bureau of Guangdong Province imposed administrative penalties on 12 parties who produced and sold products that infringed the exclusive rights of a Zhejiang Cultural Communication Co., Ltd.’s “Kayou” registered trademark, including confiscation of the infringing products involved, confiscation of illegal gains, and fines.
On October 23, 2024, the Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision Bureau organized the Dongguan Municipal Market Supervision Bureau and the Dongcheng Branch of the Dongguan Municipal Market Supervision Bureau to carry out special law enforcement actions against 14 places located in Dongcheng Street, Dongguan City that were suspected of producing and selling anime card products that infringed the exclusive rights of the “Kayou” registered trademark of a certain Zhejiang Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. 14 business entities were inspected, and 3,448 boxes of suspected infringing anime cards and 3,884 infringing plastic films with the word “Kayou” were seized on the spot. The total value of the goods was 136,000 RMB, and 12 cases were filed.
Upon investigation, it was found that the party concerned, without permission, purchased boxed animation card products produced by the trademark right holder, made microholes in the sealed packaging bags of the cards in the boxes, observed them with an endoscope, identified high-grade rare cards, unpacked them, took out the high-grade rare cards, replaced them with ordinary cards, restored the packaging, and re-sealed them with unauthorized printed transparent packaging film with the “Kayou” logo before selling them, thus changing the original physical state of the product, damaging the reputation-bearing function of the right holder’s registered trademark, and violating Article 57, Paragraphs (3) and (7) of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China, constituting an infringement of the exclusive right to a registered trademark.
In this series of cases, the parties’ method of unpacking and replacing the original products fully reflects the characteristics of trademark infringement and infringement of consumer rights in card products. The investigation and handling of this series of cases has significant guiding significance for the relevant law enforcement in this industry.
Case 4: Qingdao Municipal Market Supervision Bureau of Shandong Province investigated and dealt with the case of Shuohe Clothing Studio in the High-tech Zone infringing the exclusive right to use the registered trademark “ERDOS”
In December 2024, the Qingdao Municipal Market Supervision Bureau of Shandong Province investigated and dealt with the case of Shuohe Clothing Studio in the High-tech Zone producing and selling goods that infringed the exclusive rights of the registered trademark “ERDOS”. The parties’ actions were suspected of constituting a crime and the case has been transferred to the public security organs for handling.
At the end of October 2024, based on the report of the trademark owner, the Qingdao Municipal Market Supervision Bureau investigated the suspected production and sale of cashmere sweaters with the “ERDOS” logo and counterfeiting other people’s registered trademarks. On December 24, the Qingdao Municipal Public Security Bureau Shinan Branch jointly conducted an inspection on the parties. 28 cashmere sweaters and 1 pair of pants with the “ERDOS” logo were found on the scene, as well as a large number of counterfeit identification materials, including 2,100 collar labels, 6,880 washing labels, 977 zippers, and 11 mobile phones used for online business. The preliminary judgment was that the amount involved was more than 60,000 RMB. According to Article 27 of the “Administrative Penalty Law of the People’s Republic of China” and Article 3 of the “Regulations on the Transfer of Suspected Criminal Cases by Administrative Law Enforcement Agencies”, the case was transferred to the public security organs for handling in accordance with the law on the same day.
The parties published product information through well-known social platforms and directed traffic to WeChat for one-to-one transactions, which is a new type of illegal online sales behavior. The shipping address, payment address, actual return address, and the identity of the parties are all virtual, and the marketing methods are concealed. Law enforcement officers used “smart supervision” methods such as the Shandong Province Smart Market Supervision Integrated Platform, the Market Supervision Law Enforcement Case Handling System, and the WeChat platform operator evidence collection to crack the virtual identity and address set by the parties, accurately lock the scene, and fix the evidence involved in the case. The provincial, municipal, and county levels have their own division of labor and work together to form a powerful force to protect intellectual property rights.
Case 5: Shanxi Yangquan Market Supervision Bureau investigates and punishes Shanxi Mingjia Paper Co., Ltd. for infringing the exclusive right to use the registered trademark “维达” (Vinda)
In July 2024, the Yangquan Municipal Market Supervision Bureau of Shanxi Province investigated and dealt with the case of Shanxi Mingjia Paper Co., Ltd. producing and selling goods that infringed the exclusive rights of the “Vinda” registered trademark. The party’s behavior is suspected of constituting a crime, and the case has been transferred to the public security organs for handling.
On July 18, 2024, the Yangquan Municipal Market Supervision Bureau of Shanxi Province received case clues provided by Vinda Paper (China) Co., Ltd. The Municipal Market Supervision Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Team, together with the Food and Drug Investigation Detachment of the Yangquan Municipal Public Security Bureau and the Pingding County Public Security Bureau, conducted inspections on the parties in accordance with the law. According to the identification of the right holder, the toilet paper, packaging film, packaging bags, and rolling rods piled in the factory of the party are all commodities that infringe the exclusive right of registered trademarks. After investigation, it was found that since March 2023, the company’s profit model has been to purchase toilet paper raw materials from other places to produce infringing “Vinda” toilet paper, and then sell it online through 4 online stores. A total of 3,580 bags of infringing toilet paper, 215 kg of packaging film and packaging bags, and 2,650 rolling rods were seized on site. Law enforcement officers started by reviewing the on-site production records, and at the same time retrieved the customer order data, delivery statistics, and refund summary data of multiple online stores. Combined with the statements of the parties, it was found that the total value of the goods was more than 3.12 million RMB.
The case involved a large number of goods and production tools, the parties were selling online, the orders were scattered, the authorized and infringing products were mixed, and the value of the goods was difficult to calculate. The key to ensuring that the case was properly investigated and dealt with was that law enforcement officers worked together at multiple levels in accordance with the law enforcement coordination regulations, unraveled the case, quickly found out the illegal facts, found out the amount involved, and transferred it to the public security organs.
Case 6: The Market Supervision Bureau of Qingchuan County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province investigated and dealt with a case in which He XX maliciously registered a trademark without the purpose of use
In October 2024, the Market Supervision Bureau of Qingchuan County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province imposed administrative penalties on He XX for the illegal act of maliciously registering a trademark without the purpose of use, and fined him 12,000 RMB.
In May 2024, the Market Supervision Bureau of Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province, received evidence from its superiors and launched an investigation into He’s suspected malicious trademark registration. After investigation, it was found that since 2021, the party He XX has registered a shell company (Lei Xiangsen Department Store, Xinluo District) and impersonated others (Jia XX) and other means to entrust a Henan agency across provinces to register 102 trademarks of well-known scenic spots such as “Cuiyun Corridor” and “Emei Mountain”, of which 36 were successfully registered. The characteristics of his behavior are as follows: the registration category has no connection with the business scope, the physical store has no actual operation for a long time, and there is a fact of trademark transfer for profit (illegal income of 4,000 RMB), which constitutes a typical malicious hoarding of trademarks. The law enforcement personnel’s cross-regional evidence collection is complicated, involving multiple parties such as Fujian cluster registration enterprises, Henan agencies, and Xiamen transferees. In response to this situation, the law enforcement personnel immediately launched a cross-provincial joint investigation mechanism, sent three letters to obtain key evidence in Longyan, Luoyang and other places, and locked the fact of shell registration.
This case successfully investigated and dealt with a malicious registration chain spanning the three provinces of Sichuan, Henan and Fujian. It is a typical example of grassroots market supervision departments cracking down on malicious registrations and regulating the order of trademark registrations, and provides replicable law enforcement experience for cracking down on malicious trademark registrations.
Case 7: Market Supervision Bureau of Xunwu County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province investigated and punished Mr. Feng for infringing the exclusive right to use the registered trademark “赣南 (Gannan) Navel Orange”
In January 2024, the Market Supervision Bureau of Xunwu County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, imposed administrative penalties on Feng XX for infringing the exclusive right to the registered trademark “Gannan Navel Orange”, ordered him to immediately stop the infringement and imposed a fine of 94,500 RMB.
In December 2023, the Market Supervision Bureau of Xunwu County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province received a report that a navel orange fruit processing factory in a certain industrial park had passed off navel oranges produced in Fujian as Gannan navel oranges. After receiving the report, the bureau immediately conducted a law enforcement inspection on the fruit processing factory in conjunction with the county public security bureau. Since October 2023, Feng has purchased 150,000 kilograms of navel oranges from Yongchun County, Fujian Province and transported them to the fruit processing factory in Yangmeikeng Industrial Park, Xunwu County for processing. At the time of the incident, Feng had washed and graded 119,000 kilograms of “Fujian” navel oranges, and sold 10,000 kilograms at a price of 3.15 RMB per kilogram. The remaining 140,000 kilograms of “Fujian” navel oranges had not yet been packaged. When the party sold “Fujian” navel oranges, it affixed the “Gannan Navel Orange” logo on the packaging, infringing on the exclusive right to use the registered trademark of “Gannan Navel Orange”. The illegal business volume was 31,500 RMB, which was a trademark infringement violation as stipulated in Article 57 (2) of the Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China.
This case aims to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the geographical indication “Gannan Navel Orange” and effectively combat geographical indication trademark infringement and counterfeiting. The case-handling department effectively regulates the market order and promotes the healthy development of geographical indication products through scientific research and timely disposal.
