Embassy of India has come across some instances of Chinese companies infringing upon copyright/trademark of Indian brands/products such as Natraj, Raymond, JK Files and Tools, Fevicol, Onida, Godrej, Boroplus, Dabur, Mida& Company Private Ltd and some Indian incense stick brands.

Two cases were recently booked by Indian Customs wherein popular Indian brands manufactured in India were imported. The details are as under:

Description of the Item	Indian brand name	Manufacturer	Imported	Tentative value
Cosmetics	Lotus	M/s Kanidi Cosmeceuticals, Solan, H.P.	M/s Shiva Enterprises	₹ 11,34,360/-
	Lakme, Ponds, Fair & Lovely	(i)   M/s Hindustan Unilever Limited, Uttarakhand (ii)  M/s Hindustan Unilever Limited, Andheri, Mumbai (iii) M/s Schwan Stabilo, Mktd.. by Hindustan Unilever Limited, Mumbai	-do-	₹ 2,27,89,518/-

On receipt of complaints from Indian companies, the cases of copyright/trademark violations are taken up at appropriate level with relevant Government agencies in China by Embassy of India, Beijing.

China recognizes a “first to file” system, which means that the rights of trademark belongs to the first person/company who properly registers the trademark in China. The Chinese side has acted upon few of the cases by allowing the Indian companies to register with the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of China. However, the onus of trademark registration and protection in China lies on the enterprises concerned. As per the extant rules in China, the individual enterprise has to file a case in relevant forum by hiring a law firm on reported instances of trademark/copyright infringements.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Trademark registration priority: rights in-country vest with the first registrant, so exporters must secure local registration. Under the foreign trademark regime a first to file principle applies, so trademark rights vest in the first local registrant. While diplomatic channels have obtained opportunities for brand owners to register marks, the onus of securing and enforcing trademarks lies with the enterprises. Affected companies must file cases and retain local counsel to pursue enforcement in the relevant local forums; embassy facilitation aids communication but does not replace private legal action.