From 2018 to May 2019, during the operation of a paper bag factory in Beihu District, Chenzhou, the defendant Liu organized the production of a variety of counterfeit brand logos without obtaining any authorization from the right holders of the registered trademarks.

An law enforcement inspection by market supervision authorities seized 84,950 imitation handbags involving 16 brands including Septwolves and Hengyuanxiang on site, and 470,000 counterfeit labels and quality certificates involving 3 brands including Erdos and Montagut. The total number of involved handbags, labels and quality certificates reached 554,950 pieces, and 3 sets of mechanical equipment used to manufacture infringing registered trademark logos were also sealed up.

Liu sold these counterfeit logos to surrounding e-commerce platform merchants, camouflaging counterfeit goods with a "legal veneer" and allowing shoddy products to pass off as genuine on e-commerce platforms. On October 28, 2025, the People's Procuratorate of Beihu District, Chenzhou instituted a public prosecution for the case in the people's court.

After trial, the People's Court of Beihu District held that Liu's act of illegally manufacturing others' registered trademark logos constituted the crime of illegally manufacturing registered trademark symbols. The number of involved logos reached 554,900 pieces, far exceeding the standard of "especially serious circumstances" (more than 100,000 pieces) stipulated by judicial interpretations, and thus the circumstances were especially serious.

In view of Liu's voluntary surrender and truthful confession of the crime, as well as his voluntary plea of guilty and acceptance of punishment, the court imposed a lighter punishment in accordance with the law, and finally sentenced him to three years of fixed-term imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 yuan RMB.

The crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks refers to the use of a trademark identical to another's registered trademark on the same kind of goods or services without the permission of the registered trademark owner. The crime of illegally manufacturing registered trademark symbols refers to the forgery or illegal manufacture of others' registered trademark symbols, or the sale of forged or illegally manufactured registered trademark symbols.

In this case, Liu manufactured trademark symbols such as handbags, hangtags and quality certificates, rather than directly applying trademarks to goods. These logos were sold to e-commerce platform merchants, who then affixed them to the goods on their own. Therefore, Liu's act constituted a source and accessory crime in the upper reaches of the industrial chain, falling under the crime of illegally manufacturing registered trademark symbols.

According to Article 3 of the Judicial Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Criminal Cases Involving Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights, the illegal manufacture of more than 20,000 registered trademark symbols or an illegal business turnover of more than 50,000 yuan constitutes "serious circumstances"; the illegal manufacture of more than 100,000 pieces or an illegal business turnover of more than 250,000 yuan constitutes "especially serious circumstances".

In this case, Liu manufactured a total of 554,900 counterfeit logos, more than 5.5 times the standard for "especially serious circumstances", and shall be subject to a fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years in accordance with the law. The court imposed a sentence of three years in prison after comprehensively considering his circumstances of voluntary surrender, guilty plea and acceptance of punishment, which was already a lighter punishment.

China has strict legal provisions on the printing of trademark symbols. Engaging in the printing business of packaging and decorative printed matters must obtain the Printing Business License for Packaging and Decorative Printed Matters; no printing business may be conducted without the license. When undertaking trademark printing business, the printer must verify the client's Trademark Registration Certificate and its copy; if the printing is entrusted by a licensee, the trademark license contract must also be checked. The verified materials shall be filed for future reference for 2 years, and no counterfeit or forged registered trademark symbols may be printed.

Handbags and hangtags are the outer covering and business cards of commodities entering the circulation field, and important basis for consumers to identify the authenticity of brands. The flow of counterfeit logos manufactured by Liu to e-commerce merchants is equivalent to providing a legal "disguise" for fake and shoddy products, allowing counterfeits to enter the market openly.

This case reveals the industrial chain characteristics of intellectual property infringement: the upper reaches are the "source factories" that illegally manufacture trademark logos, the middle reaches are e-commerce platform merchants that purchase counterfeit logos, and the lower reaches are consumers who buy goods through e-commerce platforms. To crack down on intellectual property crimes, we must adhere to whole-chain governance, especially severely punish logo manufacturers in the upper reaches of the industrial chain, and fundamentally cut off the "identity source" of counterfeit goods.

In this case, the e-commerce platform merchants who purchased counterfeit logos may also be guilty of crimes. If merchants affix counterfeit logos to goods and sell them, they may constitute the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks or the crime of selling goods bearing counterfeit registered trademarks. Relevant merchants should take this as a warning, strictly examine the source of supply, and refrain from using any unauthorized trademark symbols.

When purchasing brand-name goods, check the printing quality and anti-counterfeiting features of logos such as hangtags, quality certificates and handbags. Genuine logos are usually exquisitely made with complete information. If the price of a commodity is significantly lower than the normal market price and the merchant cannot provide a formal purchase voucher, it is highly likely to be a counterfeit product. If a purchased commodity is suspected of being counterfeit, retain evidence such as shopping vouchers and photos of the commodity in its original state, and promptly complain to the platform or report to the market supervision department. According to Article 55 of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law, if a business operator commits fraud in providing goods, consumers may demand a refund of the payment and triple the compensation; if the compensation amount is less than 500 yuan, it shall be calculated as 500 yuan.

The Liu case is a typical case released by the Hunan court system during the March 15 International Consumer Rights Day, demonstrating the judicial organ's firm determination to severely crack down on source crimes of intellectual property infringement, purify the market environment and protect consumers' rights and interests. Protecting intellectual property is protecting consumers' rights and interests. Any act attempting to seek ill-gotten gains by manufacturing and selling counterfeit logos, whether online or offline, will face severe legal sanctions. All producers and operators should take this as a lesson, abide by the legal bottom line, and jointly create a healthy and orderly market environment. Enterprises should effectively and continuously carry out the daily collection of infringement clues, take proactive actions to curb the spread of infringement acts, and safeguard the market value of their brands.