O Grupo LEGO vence processo contra LEPIN na China

[AVCampos]

Deixo aqui copy-paste sem traduzir, pois no trabalho não tenho tempo para traduções extensas.

November 5, 2018: The LEGO Group today received a favourable decision from the Guangzhou Yuexiu District Court against four companies who infringed multiple copyrights of the LEGO Group and conducted acts of unfair competition by producing and distributing LEPIN building sets. It is another significant legal victory in China for the LEGO Group in its battle against imitators over the past two years.

According to the decisions issued by the court, the four defendants, Shantou Meizhi Model Co., Ltd., et al, are liable for copying the 3-dimensional artworks of 18 LEGO® sets, multiple LEGO Minifigures, as well as for carrying out unfair competition acts.

The court ordered, among other things, that the four defendants shall immediately cease producing, selling, exhibiting or in any way promoting the infringing products, and shall pay the LEGO Group approximately RMB 4.5 million as damages.

Niels B. Christiansen, Chief Executive Officer of the LEGO Group said:

“We welcome the court’s ruling. We believe these decisions are well-founded in the facts and the law, and clearly demonstrate the continued efforts of Chinese authorities to protect intellectual property. It also shows the authorities’ commitment to creating a fair business environment for all companies operating in China. The court’s decisions state that the LEPIN manufacturer and sellers must immediately cease copying the 18 LEGO sets that have been found protectable by the court. These rulings send a clear warning message to other companies who may be copying LEGO products. We will continue to take all necessary legal actions to protect our intellectual property rights.”

Christiansen added: “When children and shoppers choose a LEGO product, they expect the highest quality and the safest play experience. We cannot have them being misled in any way. While we welcome fair competition, if someone misuses our intellectual property and seeks to take advantage of consumers’ trust, we will take action.”

Over the past two years, the LEGO Group has obtained positive outcomes in its intellectual property enforcement actions in China. In October 2017, the LEGO Group won a case at Shantou Intermediate Court against BELA, a Chinese toy manufacturer, for infringing the copyrights of the LEGO Group and for unfair competition. In another case decided earlier in July 2017, the LEGO logo and the LEGO word mark were recognized by the Beijing Higher Court as “well-known” trademarks in China.

Fonte: LINK

[PocasNuckie]

Resumo rápido - A LEGO ganhou mais um processo em tribunal contra 4 empresas que produziam e vendiam Lepin. Em causa estão cópias descaradas de 18 sets, várias minifiguras e outros actos de competição comercial ilegal. Além de terem de parar imediatamente de produzir e vender os artigos em causa ainda vão ter que pagar uns peaners de 600,000€ à LEGO. 

[BAndy]

Resumindo... nada vai mudar.

[Marco_Rocha]

Daqui a uns meses voltam ao activo 

[AVCampos]

Ao que parece, prenderam o chefe da Lepin e confiscaram centenas de milhar de falsificações:
https://customizeminifiguresintelligenc ... ai-police/

[edit] Imagens no Brickset: https://brickset.com/article/43475/poli ... r-arrested

[AVCampos]

Como seria de esperar, corta-se uma cabeça e crescem mais duas... hail HYDRA.

https://customizeminifiguresintelligenc ... w-factory/

[AVCampos]

Uma entrevista acerca do combate à Lepin, e um agradecimento aos AFOLs.

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Our general counsel Robin Smith was interviewed by BBC about the police action against lepin, where she highly credited the support from the AFOL community in this battle. https://www.marketplace.org/2019/05/16/ ... hina-afol/

Furthermore, Robin wishes to pass on a few more words to AFOLs via LAN:

"Lately, the Legal Department has been flooded with numerous messages about Lepin changing its name and about the fact that their sets are still being sold on certain websites and in certain stores. We wanted to let you all know…..that we know. And, yes, we know this can seem discouraging.

I suppose the best analogy here is: “We have won a big battle, but we have not yet won the war.”

There is still A LOT of work left to do. And the Legal Department, with the help of the Shanghai Police and others, are doing it. Actually, not just in China, but all over the world, against Lepin and other copycats and infringers. And, yes, we are working to stop the continued sale of the Lepin sets on many fronts. So don’t lose hope. We are on the case! "