On the morning of August 29, Quality Brands Protection Committee of CAEFI (QBPC) and International Trademark Association (INTA) jointly hosted the 2023 Virtual Flash Briefing Series on QBPC Best Case Sharing - Part 1, Nora Zhang, Vice Chair of QBPC Best Practices/Enforcement Committee, acted as the moderator. Speakers from Novartis and FMC discussed criminal IP enforcement issues at both the operational and strategic level, and engaged with the audience on related topics. More than 90 members and representatives from QBPC and INTA participated in the event.
First of all, Felix Zhang, Deputy Director of Anti-Falsified Medicines, North Asia, Global Security of Novartis Pharmaceutical, introduced in detail the experience and insights of erasing the supply chain of counterfeits with the example of "Suihua 4.11 Big Operation Against Large-scale Production and Sale of Counterfeit Drugs". From the industry background of the case to the research and judgement of the supply chain of counterfeit drugs, from the accumulation of intelligence of the peripheral cases to the in-depth investigation of the production and sales network, from the crackdown on the gangs of the multi-province production and sales to pushing forward subsequent criminal proceedings, the six right holders made breakthroughs and achieved satisfactory results in spite of a lot of difficulties and challenges in the process.
Subsequently, Sam Fan, Brand Protection Manager of FMC, shared with the participants the successful experience, characteristics of criminal activities and trends of typical cases of extra-large cross-border production and sales of fake pesticide. He pointed out that the good communication, coordination and co-operation mechanism among the Industry Working Groups of the QBPC had effectively promoted the sharing of clues, information research and judgement, and joint cooperation on law enforcement against counterfeiting among the members. He also shared other successful experiences, including the application of judicial audits and electronic evidence in cross-border cases, sample collection and technical support to law enforcement agencies, the application of new technological equipments in anti-counterfeiting operations of pesticide industry, and reflecting the new situation of counterfeit pesticides to the relevant governmental authorities in order to promote the advancement of the relevant laws, regulations and judicial interpretations.
In the Q&A session, the online participants raised typical questions on the sources of case leads, the investigation on huge and complex supply chains of counterfeit drugs, and the determination on the value of counterfeit tablets. The two speakers gave detailed and wonderful answers accordingly.
