MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1979
MERCHANDISE COUNTERFEITING CHECKED
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THE TRADE, INDUSTRY AND CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT IS SUCCEEDING IN CLAMPING DOWN ON MERCHANDISE COUNTERFEITING ACTIVITIES IN HONG KONG.
THIS IS INDICATED BY THE INCREASED NUMBER OF CONVICTIONS FOR SUCH OFFENCES AND THE VALUE OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS SEIZED AND CONFISCATED IN 1978 COMPARED WITH THE AVERAGE ANNUAL FIGURES FOR THE PREVIOUS THREE YEARS.
DURING LAST YEAR, THE MERCHANDISE MARKS INVESTIGATION UNIT OF THE TRADE INVESTIGATION BRANCH CARRIED OUT 220 INVESTIGATIONS. OF THESE 60 HAVE RESULTED IN CONVICTIONS UNDER THE MERCHANDISE MARKS ORDINANCE AND SOME 25 PROSECUTIONS ARE PENDING.
THE VALUE OF FALSELY-MARKED GOODS SEIZED LAST YEAR AMOUNTED TO $2.7 MILLION AND THE COURT FINES WERE SOME $540,000.
FOUR MANUFACTURERS WERE JAILED FOR FORGING THE TRADE MARK OF A WELL-KNOWN SWISS WATCH-MAKER, IMITATING THE BRAND NAME OF A WORLD FAMOUS ELECTRICAL PRODUCT, AND FRAUDULENTLY LABELLING LOCAL-MADE GARMENTS AS BEING OF FOREIGN ORIGIN.
A TIE MANUFACTURER WAS FINED $200,000 AND GIVEN A FOUR-MONTH SUSPENDED PRISON SENTENCE FOR ILLEGALLY LABELLING HIS GOODS WITH THE WORDS +PARIS+ AND +FRANCE+.
HEAD OF THE UNIT, CHIEF INDUSTRY OFFICER LEUNG YAU-YAM SAID THE FIGURES COMPARED FAVOURABLY WITH THE ANNUAL AVERAGE
IN THE PREVIOUS THREE YEARS DURING WHICH ABOUT 50 CONVICTIONS A YEAR WERE RECORDED AND FINES IMPOSED AMOUNTED ONLY TO ABOUT $250,000 A YEAR.
MR. LEUNG SAID THERE WERE SEVERAL FACTORS INDICATING THIS ENCOURAGING TREND.
+FOR EXAMPLE MORE PEOPLE ARE NOW AWARE OF OUR SERVICE AND ARE REPORTING SUSPECTED COUNTERFEITING.
+WE ALSO HAVE CLOSE LINKS WITH THE CONSUMER COUNCIL AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS WHICH REFER COMPLAINTS TO US. BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, WE HAVE IMPROVED OUR INVESTIGATIVE METHODS,+ MR. LEUNG SAID.
+A REWARD SCHEME, JOINTLY OPERATED BY THE DEPARTMENT, THE SWISS WATCH INDUSTRY INFORMATION CENTRE AND TWO MAJOR JAPANESE WATCH MANUFACTURERS, HAS RESULTED IN MORE INFORMATION AND THEREFORE, MORE SEIZURES OF FAKE WATCHES.
+UNDER THIS SCHEME, CASH REWARDS ARE GIVEN TO INFORMERS WHO SUPPLY INFORMATION LEADING TO THE SEIZURE OF FAKE WATCHES OR THE CONVICTION OF THE COUNTERFEITERS.+
/MR. LEUNG.