Recently, the Zhongshan Second People's Court rendered the first-instance criminal judgment in a trademark counterfeiting criminal case represented by NTD team—attorneys Lily Fu, Yingshuo XIE, and Steve LIU. The Court imposed criminal liability on the infringers for their unauthorized use of Carhartt’s registered trademarks. This represents another significant achievement for the Carhartt brand in criminal IP protection and underscores China's firm resolve to combat trademark infringement crimes and strengthen judicial protection of IP rights.
As an internationally renowned fashion brand, Carhartt owns the registrations for "Carhartt" trademark in China under Class 18 for the designated goods including "bags; backpacks". The infringers illegally produced and sold cross-body bags and backpacks bearing "Carhartt" trademark, with nearly 1,500 infringing items seized from inventory. Additionally, the infringers also produced and sold counterfeit goods of other renowned brands, including Supreme, Patagonia, BAPE, Stussy, and Dickies. Their behavior seriously infringing upon the trademark rights of Carhartt and other notable brands, disrupting normal market competition order, and harming the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
To safeguard the brand's legitimate rights and interests, the NTD team swiftly initiated enforcement actions. We actively collected and preserved evidence of infringement and cooperated closely with judicial authorities during the investigation and prosecution stages, and finally facilitated the Procuratorate in filing public prosecution against the infringers. During the Court trial, the infringers' attorney raised various defenses, including the accused infringing marks differed in font and shading and thus did not constitute identical trademarks, the registered trademarks did not cover the categories of infringing goods, and the shipping costs should be deducted from the illegal business volume.
The court found that the accused infringing marks were visually substantially indistinguishable from the registered trademarks and may easily cause consumer confusion; the registered trademarks of Carhartt and other brands covered the categories of the seized counterfeit goods; and the shipping costs were incurred as a direct result of the illegal business operations involving infringing goods and therefore formed part of the illegal business volume. The defenses raised by the infringers' attorney were fundamentally inconsistent with the facts and were entirely rejected by the Court.
The court also examined the infringing behaviors and sentencing circumstances for each infringer. Taking into account various factors such as admission of guilt, remorse, restitution of illegal gains, first-time offending, accessory roles and truthful confessions, the Court imposed corresponding prison terms on the principal and accessory offenders, along with substantial fines, and ordered the confiscation of all counterfeit goods and illegal revenue.
This conviction and sentencing not only imposed criminal liability on the infringers involved but also sent a powerful deterrent message against trademark infringement and related criminal activities. It effectively struck at the counterfeiting and distribution network targeting Carhartt and other brands, creating strong judicial deterrence against potential trademark infringers and establishing a robust judicial protection barrier for the healthy development of brands in the Chinese market.
Lily FU
Senior Partner
Attorney-at-Law
Lily Fu is a seasoned attorney with 26 years of extensive experience in intellectual property and commercial legal services. She has successfully managed over 6,000 legal matters, including numerous complex cross-border IP and commercial disputes. Known for her exceptional expertise and strategic litigation approach, she consistently delivers high success rates and client satisfaction, earning widespread recognition for her professional excellence and service quality.
Ms. Fu’s practice spans the full spectrum of intellectual property services—including litigation and enforcement, patent and trademark portfolio strategy, invalidation actions, administrative investigations, and trade secret protection—as well as end-to-end commercial contract management, from drafting and review to negotiation and dispute resolution (arbitration/litigation). She also advises on comprehensive corporate compliance systems, covering data compliance, cross-border operations, and related areas.
With a deep understanding of business fundamentals, Ms. Fu effectively identifies and addresses core client needs such as market expansion, technological innovation, and risk mitigation. By integrating legal insight with commercial strategy, she helps clients build a solid legal foundation for technology commercialization and brand development while supporting sound, forward-looking business decisions. She serves as retained counsel and specialized legal partner to multiple Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders.
Leveraging a global network across the United States, the European Union, South Korea, and China, Ms. Fu is adept at navigating cross-jurisdictional legal frameworks, judicial practices, and business norms. She provides seamless and efficient international legal support, helping clients manage cross-border trade, resolve legal conflicts, mitigate compliance risks, and execute global strategies smoothly.
As a team leader, Ms. Fu is committed to mentoring the next generation of lawyers through case reviews, hands-on guidance, and targeted training, fostering a team known for its professionalism, service excellence, and ethical rigor. She actively contributes to global IP policy discussions and industry compliance standard-setting, drawing on her decades of experience to help clients anticipate regulatory trends, address potential risks, and implement proactive, refined legal risk management frameworks.
Yingshuo XIE
Partner
Attorney-at-law
Trademark Attorney
Xie Yingshuo has practice for nearly 20 years and has represented many global or world 500 TOP companies for trademark disputes based on well-known mark claims and copyrights. Ms. Xie is good at providing clients for practical advices and strategical suggestions from company’s business need and has sophisticated experience in trademark prosecutions and administrative lawsuits. Ms. Xie has also been awarded the “Star Trademark Attorney” by CTA and also been rated a title of Senior Trademark Attorney with the Ranking of Professor by CTA.
Steve LIU
Attorney-at-Law
Patent Attorney
Steve Liu joined NTD after graduation in 2018 for law work in IP field, he has assisted several senior partners to deal with various kinds of legal services for well-known domestic and foreign enterprises, such as IP infringement disputes, IP authorization and confirmation disputes, administrative anti-counterfeiting actions, online infringement complaints, IP assignment and licensing, commercial disputes of enterprises, and enterprise general legal counsel.
