A person in charge of an exhibition booth and a salesperson of another exhibition booth were each fined $50,000 today (May 2) at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts, respectively, for offering for sale and exhibiting; and selling and in possession of an infringing copy of a copyright work for the purpose of or in the course of any trade or business. They had contravened the Copyright Ordinance (CPO).
Customs earlier received the copyright owner's information alleging the sale and display of suspected infringing toys for order at booths in the Hong Kong Gifts and Premium Fair held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
After investigation, Customs officers conducted test-buy operations and successfully purchased and ordered infringing toys and seized 99 infringing toys at two booths with an estimated market value of about $1,900 in total. A 29-year-old man in charge and a 24-year-old saleslady were arrested and prosecuted.
Customs will continue to take stringent enforcement action to combat infringing activities. Booth exhibitors are reminded to respect intellectual property rights and not to sell infringing goods.
Under the CPO, any person who possesses an infringing copy of a copyright work with a view to selling it commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $50,000 per infringing copy and imprisonment for four years.
Members of the public may report any suspected infringing activities to the Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
Ends/Thursday, May 2, 2019