Case fileReal
People v. Gu Juan & Zhang Lifeng (counterfeit Hello Kitty)
A Chinese criminal prosecution of two sellers of counterfeit Hello Kitty goods, with Sanrio as the trademark owner and victim. It became a published reference case in China.
Shanghai People’s Procuratorate (Sanrio Co., Ltd. as rights-holder and victim),
Plaintiff,
v.
Gu Juan and Zhang Lifeng,
Defendant.
Docket No.Criminal Trial Reference (刑事审判参考) Case No. 860
CourtShanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court, affirmed by the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court
Filed2010
StatusDecided
The record
- Court
- Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court, affirmed by the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court
- Jurisdiction
- China
- Docket No.
- Criminal Trial Reference (刑事审判参考) Case No. 860
- Filed
- 2010
- Resolved
- 2011
- Sanrio’s role
- Rights-holder
- Type
- Counterfeiting
- Claims
- Selling counterfeit registered-trademark goods (PRC Criminal Law Art. 214)
- Counsel — plaintiff/petitioner
- not public
- Counsel — Sanrio side
- not public
What happened
A Chinese criminal prosecution of two sellers of counterfeit Hello Kitty goods, with Sanrio as the trademark owner and victim. It became a published reference case in China.
Outcome
Convictions affirmed. Gu Juan got 3.5 years plus a RMB 160,000 fine; Zhang Lifeng one year plus RMB 50,000. About 12,101 counterfeit Hello Kitty items across 74 varieties, worth roughly RMB 73,000, were involved.
The legal nuance
The court held that the rights-holder’s authenticity opinion counts as a victim statement, admissible without formal appraisal credentials.
Sources of record