Exhibitors at a toy fair were convicted of infringing copyright at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts last week.

A person in charge of one exhibition booth and a salesperson at another booth were each fined HK$50,000 for offering for sale and exhibiting; and selling and being in possession of an infringing copy of a copyright work for the purpose of or in the course of a trade or business, respectively. They had contravened the Copyright Ordinance (CPO).

Customs had earlier received the copyright owner’s information alleging the sale and display of suspected infringing toys for order at booths in the Hong Kong Gifts and Premium Fair held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

After investigation, officers conducted test-buy operations and successfully purchased and ordered infringing toys and seized 99 infringing toys at two booths with an estimated market value of about HK$1900. A 29-year-old man in charge and a 24-year-old saleslady were arrested and prosecuted.

Customs says it will continue to take stringent enforcement action to combat infringing activities. Booth exhibitors have been reminded by Customs to respect intellectual property rights and not to sell infringing goods.

Under the CPO, any person who possesses an infringing copy of a copyright work with a view to selling it commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of HK$50,000 per infringing copy and imprisonment for four years.