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Several complaints, including from leading companies such as Raymond and Boroplus, have been received by the Indian Embassy in Beijing against counterfeiting of their products.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr Jyotiraditya Scindia, said, “Some cases where Indian products were copied and sold in China and exported from China to other countries, have come to the notice of the Government.”
“However, no specific case of such counterfeit products being sold in the Indian market has come to the notice of the Government. Some complaints involving copyright/trademark violation against Indian brands/products by Chinese companies were received,” he added in a statement.
The Minister said all the cases were taken up at the appropriate level with the concerned Government agencies in China and they are being followed up by the Indian Embassy in Beijing.
In 2007, Raymond Ltd had complained to the Indian Embassy against duplication of Raymond, JK Files and Tools brands and Kama Sutra brands and counterfeit products under these brands being exported from China to other countries, he said, adding that it was found that these counterfeit products were being manufactured in various provinces in China.
In another case, the Consulate General of India, Guangzhou received a complaint regarding trademark violation of Onida brand in China, Mr Scindia said, adding that a Chinese company had copied the brand Onida and registered the trademark under their name in China.
Another complaint regarding counterfeiting of the famous Natraj pencils of Hindustan Pencils Ltd in China was received by the Indian Embassy in Beijing in 2007, he said. “The Chinese ‘Natraj' pencils used spurious lead laden paint. The complaint was later registered with Quality Brands Protection Committee in China,” he said.
In August 2010, the Indian Embassy received a complaint of spurious antiseptic cream under the trademark BOROPLUS, CHINA, being manufactured and sold in Russia and other neighbouring countries with exactly the same packaging and wording style, colour scheme, design, get up and layout of the original BOROPLUS, the Minister said.
Ahuja Radios complained that ‘AHUJA' brand products were being manufactured and sold in many countries by Chinese companies and that a Chinese company had also applied for registration of AHUJA trademark in China.
Ahuja Radios also filed a suit against the Chinese company in a Chinese court after which both companies reached an out of court settlement with the Chinese company agreeing to transfer their application for registration of the trademark and the rights arising out of it in favour of the Indian company, the Minister said.
The Embassy had also received a complaint from a Chinese company (which was a registered importer of Indian incense sticks, handicraft, apparels and accessories) that another Chinese company had copied registered trademark designs of many Indian incense stick brands and registered them with the Chinese trademark authority under their own name, he stated.
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