Forty dealers in Beijing's Silk Street market have been congratulated for protecting intellectual property rights by Paul Ranjard, Legal Counsel of Lacoste and Chairman of the IPR Working Group at the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

Last year, Silk Street devoted RMB30 million to establishing a special foundation for the protection of intellectual property. Dealers there were encouraged to sell Chinese traditional brands and accredited brands, rather than counterfeit products of international brands.

Paul Ranjard says that the recent effort of the Silk Street Market in bolstering the protection of intellectual property rights is an encouraging sign. Indeed, the recent example of cooperation between brand owner and the management of the Silk Street Market shows that enhanced collaboration between both sides can provide an effective and efficient solution to the problem. The establishment of the special IP fund is a good measure from which other areas in China can learn.

Recent initiatives have seen gradual improvements at the market with low-end silk clothes as well as counterfeit glasses, watches and bags — once the center of attraction at the market — being replaced by Chinese traditional brands such as Quan Ju De and Tong Ren Tang. Jewelry, top-end clothes and silk have been gradually increased there too.

However a great deal of work remains to be done, as a visit to Silk Street last week still showed, with a number of counterfeit goods bearing brand names like Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, LV and North Face as well as many others either being openly displayed in retail booths or sold discretely through the use of catalogues. In spite of recent improvements, brand owners must realize that the most realistic means of achieving any rapid progress is by further enhancing and coordinating efforts with the management of the retail centers.