As copyright protection improves in China, a growing number of
international trademark owners are actively searching for domestic
companies to license their characters and logos.
"Things are different since China entered into the World Trade
Organization," said Richard Wang of Anime Entertainment
International Ltd., a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Animation
International Ltd., which owns the mainland license to several
Japanese cartoon characters, such as Crayon Shinchan and
Doraemon.
"Copyright violations are decreasing. At least pirates don't dare
work openly," he said.
The situation has improved so much that Anime's parent company has
decided to start selling licensing rights on the mainland this
year.
Wang's company is not alone.
An
exhibition in town that ended on Saturday drew about 50 companies
looking for qualified licensees to design, manufacture and market
clothes, toys, knapsacks and other goods carrying images of cartoon
characters they represent.
"The business condition in terms of intellectual property rights is
getting better on the mainland," said Wendy Chang, president of
Taiwan-based Impact Marketing/Management Consultation Co. Ltd. "We
used to find fakes on a regular basis," she said, adding that every
time she returns to the mainland she sees fewer and fewer
knockoffs.
The Taiwan company is the exclusive agent in China for Teletubbies,
a children's TV program produced by the British Broadcast Corp.
While statistics about copyright infringement are hard to come by,
companies that fight piracy say the situation is improving on the
mainland since China joined the WTO.
"Last year, my company found more than 100 cases involving
trademark violations and counterfeiting, but so far this year we
have only found 60," said Ruan Hong, an official with BOB
Information Service Ltd., which helped owners of Hello Kitty and
Hanrio crack down on copyright violations.
"China has long been labeled a 'world factory' for international
brand names, but most of the products are exported as very few
companies have licenses to distribute and sell them on the domestic
market," said Sha Yiwen, director of Shanghai Trade Exhibition
Office, which organized the fair.
Wang Jian of Shanghai Yihui Commodity Co. Ltd. attended the fair
with an eye on buying a license to characters from the popular
Harry Potter books and movies.
"I
think (Harry Potter) can help my products, which are mostly
decorations and stationery," said Wang, while browsing sample
products at the licensing show. "I will also develop more products
with the image if I get the license to use it."
Several companies are already enjoying a nice payoff from buying
licenses to well-known characters.
"Since our company picked up a license to use the image of Winnie
Pooh in 1998, products are selling much better," said Qi Wenjing,
general manager of Shanghai Joint Force International Trading Co.
Ltd.
Before it bought the license, Joint Force was simply a manufacturer
of children's products and gifts. Now it not only manufactures and
designs products, but has also opened eight specialized stores --
Fuchi Fun House -- selling licensed children's products.
Licensing of characters has a short history in China, dating back
only seven or eight years when Mickey Mouse started popping up on
store shelves.
(Eastday.com November 12, 2002)