(Yicai Global) April 1 -- A court in China today increased by 10 times the initial fine handed to the company behind clone brand Lepin for infringing copyrights held by Lego Group. It must now pay CNY30 million (USD4.56 million).

The Guangdong High People’s Court said the manufacturer, Shantou Meizhi Model, had breached the Danish toymaker’s copyrights for a long time and on a large scale, earning huge profits in the process, according to CCTV News.

The Lepin brand has cloned Lego toys for four years, infringing on eight of Lego’s registered trademarks. Meizhi Model raked in CNY330 million (USD50.19 million) in illegal revenue from September 2017 to April 2019, with cumulative sales estimated at over CNY500 million and total profit of over CNY160 million.

The court fully supported Lego’s claim for compensation, saying this was a deliberately criminal act and the company obviously intended to counterfeit Lego products and should be severely punished. 

Previously, the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court found that Meizhi Model had duplicated Lego toys since 2015 and produced a large number of copycat versions under the Lepin logo, which looks similar to Lego’s, constituting trademark infringement and unfair competition.

That court ruled that Meizhi Model should pay compensation of CNY3 million (USD456,000). The firm then appealed to the Guangdong High People's Court.

Senior executives of Meizhi Model were arrested by Shanghai police in April 2019. At the end of last year, the Shanghai High People’s Court sentenced the head of the company to six years in prison with a CNY90 million penalty. Another eight defendants were also jailed and fined.

Editor: Tom Litting