Jewelry protection promoted

Blacklist, warning system established to raise awareness of design rights, deter plagiarism

Jewelry companies that plagiarize designs will be put on the industry blacklist if they refuse to rectify their actions after two warnings, according to Shi Hongyue, secretary-general of the Gems and Jewelry Trade Association of China.

China's gold and jewelry industry is developing very quickly, with a growing influence in the global market, but its quality and profitability remain weak compared with many developed countries, Shi said at the First Forum on Intellectual Property Rights of Chinese Jewelry in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, last week.

Tao Minghao, president of China Gold News, said the gap lies in the branding and design, both of which are linked to the protection of intellectual property.

These days, customers tend to purchase self-designed jewelry through a range of both online and offline channels. Many individual designers have created classic works with input from their clients.

However, the design concepts of such new works are easily plagiarized and many products on the market are copies.

Shi said, "Jewelry designers lack awareness of IP rights protection and the value of their labor is easily stolen."

He said the association is working on solutions to these problems. For example, the warning and blacklist system was created.

The Shenzhen intellectual property association for gold and jewelry industry also announced that it plans to build a data base, a training center and a quick-response center to help protect jewelry-related intellectual property.

Miao Zhiguo, chairman of local Shenzhen jewelry company Ideal Jewelry, said the protection of innovation shows respect to the products and designers.

"Innovation goes hand in hand with protection, no matter in which industry," he said. "Intellectual property protection faces difficulties in collecting evidence, as well as the long time, high costs and low compensation involved. This can only be solved with cooperation among the government, social organizations, the media, enterprises and customers."

In December 2016, Shenzhen-based jewelry brand TTF sued a company in Fujian province for plagiarizing the design of a necklace.

The court of Shenzhen's Luohu district decided the latter should stop violating the design and pay 12,000 yuan ($1,797) in damages to TTF.

Although the court said it was high compensation compared to similar cases, TTF found the money was only enough to pay the attorney fee.

chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/17/2017 page17)