Moncler wins damages from Chinese producer

Moncler has been awarded nearly half a million dollars in damages from a Chinese firm accused of counterfeiting its products.

The Italian company - best known for its padded down jackets - was awarded RMB 3m (around $475,000) in damages related to trademark infringement by Beijing Nuoyakate Garment Co after a two-year effort to bring the counterfeiter to justice.

"This is a ground-breaking case, believed to be the first judgment under China's new Trademark Law to grant maximum statutory damages," said Moncler in a statement, adding that it "substantial resources to safeguarding its intellectual property rights on a global basis."

Moncler discovered in 2013 that Nuoyakate was manufacturing and selling down jackets with counterfeit copies of its logos and that it had attempted to register several fake trademarks and domain names in China and other key markets.

A year ago, the Italian company sued Nuoyakate in the newly established Intellectual Property Court of Beijing for trademark infringement and a violation of its IP rights.

Moncler said it works in partnership with local authorities and law enforcement agencies around the world to seize and destroy suspicious items and to hunt down the manufacturers behind illegal production.

Giving an indication of the scale of counterfeiting, the group notes that in 2014 alone it investigated more than 1,450 cases and seized more than 450,000 items worldwide. 

One facet of that effort is an online monitoring programme which has been responsible for removing more than 74,000 auctions and closing more than 1,800 websites selling fake Moncler products.