Chinese Court Sentences Hermès Counterfeiter To Life

For a country that sources a lot of counterfeit goods and fast-fashion knock-offs, China’s Heyuan Intermediate People’s Court certainly doesn't mess around when it comes to punishing counterfeiters. A few weeks ago, the Heyuan court sentenced Xiao Zhenjiang to life in prison for counterfeiting almost 100 million yuan (about $15.7 million) worth of Hermès handbags. The court ordered for all of his belongings and property to be confiscated.

According to the court documents, Zhenjiang was the leader of a major counterfeiting gang and a repeat-offender. Relative to their leader, the other gang members got off with much lighter sentences, ranging from seven to ten years imprisonment and fines ranging from 500,000 yuan to 800,000 yuan ($79,000 to $126,000). In deciding the sentences, the Heyuan court took into consideration the market value of the goods had they actually been genuine. The sentence is related to a broader regional crackdown launched in February to fight market manipulation, counterfeit products and bribery. Authorities have said the crackdown is aimed at increasing market innovation and social stability. While the harshness of the sentence has surprised many IP lawyers, it is also interesting to note that China is taking the initiative to crack down on its own counterfeiters. The Communist Party chief of Guangdong province, Wang Yang, has strengthened protection of intellectual-property rights in what is considered to be one of the epicenters of China’s counterfeit production. "If it was foreigners demanding that we protect IPR [intellectual-property rights] five to 10 years ago, now we are demanding this ourselves,” stated Yang. While we here at TFG are happy to see a crackdown on counterfeit goods by the Chinese, perhaps a life sentence is taking things a bit too far? What do you think?