Chinese Factory Raided - Counterfeit Bluetooth Accessories Seized

A police raid on a factory in Southern China has found thousands of products claiming to have official Bluetooth accreditation without permission from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) trade group. During the law enforcement action on September 12, Technical Supervisory Bureau and Public Security Bureau (the "Chinese Authorities"), based on information provided by the Bluetooth SIG, found over 4,000 units of trademark infringing earpieces and thousands of electronic parts and components waiting to be assembled at the suspected company - Shenzhen Wanshuo Digital Technology in Shenzhen.

The case is being transferred to the Public Security Bureau for possible criminal prosecution.

"The event indicates that Chinese Authorities have showed their determination to curb actions of infringement; however, continuous cooperation between the government and the private sector is still needed to protect Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), in particular Trademark rights, and to stop infringement activities from spreading throughout the country. As over 50 percent of Bluetooth wireless technology qualified products are produced in the Asia Pacific region and China ranks among the top three countries in the region in terms of Bluetooth SIG membership, the Bluetooth SIG has the obligation to protect the rights of fully licensed Bluetooth wireless technology products and members who have conformed to the Bluetooth Qualification Program," said Michael Foley, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Bluetooth SIG.

"The Bluetooth SIG believes that infringement hurts not only the image and equity of the global royalty-free standard, but also consumers who unknowingly purchase counterfeit Bluetooth wireless technology products which ultimately fail to meet their expectations for interoperability and quality. Only through the protection of IPR, including but not limited to copyrights and trademarks rights, can product innovation be further encouraged and the sustainable development in market practices be achieved," added Foley.

In order to fight increasing infringing business operations in the region, the Bluetooth SIG has commissioned I-OnAsia, a global business security and risk consultancy, to conduct a series of infringement investigation and anti-counterfeit programs in the Asia Pacific region in recent years. I-OnAsia's investigation resulted in the crackdown on the law-breaking company in early September, as well as a similar case which occurred July 17, 2006.

At that time, an anti-infringement raid was conducted against Shenzhen Bluebird Hi-Tech in Shenzhen -- about 3,000 units of counterfeit headsets and over 30,000 units of packaging material and labels bearing Bluetooth trademarks were seized. Its general manager and vice general manager were both sentenced to ten months imprisonment earlier this year.

Posted to the site on 5th November 2007