BEIJING (AFX) - Louis Vuitton has won a lawsuit against a Chinese market that failed to stop the sale of fake handbags made to look the products of the French luxury goods giant, state media reported.
The Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court ordered Chaowai Men's Department Store, an indoor market, to pay Vuitton 150,000 yuan (about $18,724), the China Daily reported.
The court passed the verdict yesterday, on the eve of Chinese President Hu Jintao's departure for a visit to the United States during which intellectual property right violations are expected to figure prominently on the agenda.
In its ruling, the Intermediate People's Court said that 22 stalls within the market have been selling handbags wearing the Vuitton trademark without authorization.
The bags were sold at about 100 yuan apiece (about $12.48), whereas the genuine article went for more than 50 times as much in other stores in the Chinese capital, according to the paper.
'The defendant... obviously failed to fulfill its obligations of supervision,' the ruling said, according to the paper.
Today, Louis Vuitton and four other luxury brands won yet another victory when the Beijing Supreme People's Court upheld a previous ruling against Silk Alley, another Beijing indoor market, state media said.
Besides Louis Vuitton, the makers of the Chanel, Prada, Burberry and Gucci luxury brands were the other manufacturers named in the suit.
The court turned down an appeal filed by Silk Alley, which means it will have to pay 20,000 yuan to each of the five luxury brands for violating their intellectual property rights, the Beijing Evening News said.
More than four years after China entered the World Trade Organization, intellectual property infringements are consistently listed as a top concern among foreign companies operating in the country.
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