Police Raided Company Sells $ 30 Million by Knock-Off Legos: NPR
The toy company Lepin was ridden by Chinese authorities in Shenzhen, China last week to produce false Lego products.
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The toy company Lepin was ridden by Chinese authorities in Shenzhen, China last week for allegedly producing false Lego products.
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A quick visit to the website LepinLand.com, and it is quite clear, the toys the Chinese company sells, are honestly like another very popular toy on the market: Legos.
But it won't sell them much longer.
The Chinese company posted a message on its website saying that at the request of the Chinese government and the Shanghai police, it is temporarily stopping the production of their block set from May.
Chinese authorities arrested Lepin's factory in Shenzhen, China last week after the discovery was allegedly producing false Lego products. Raid raised $ 30 million in counterfeit Legos and police arrested four people, the BBC reported.
Most Lepin kits, including the Star Wars series, are advertised on the site as "compatible with Lego".
And now we know why. Police said in a statement that the toys were copied from Lego drawings and more than 630,000 finished products were factory-sized, the BBC reported.
A police investigation is still ongoing. According to the BBC, pictures posted by Chinese authorities showed raid products that looked almost identical to those produced by the Danish toy giant Lego.
The Lepin brand is definitely a cheaper option and often sells for a fraction of the price of Legos. From Saturday afternoon, Lepin's site, the Star Wars Millennium Falcon kit, was listed for $ 313.30, while an authentic Lego goes to $ 799.99.
Zhong Shikai, one of the police officers responsible for investigating the case, told the state-run Xinhua news agency that there are major differences in craftsmanship and quality when comparing the two.
Lego China and Asia Pacific's vice president Robin Smith said the products could pose a consumer safety issue, Xinhua reported.
Foreign companies in China have broadly expressed dissatisfaction with the enforcement of intellectual property rights due to the spread of counterfeiting. The AFP reports the raid was a move from China to double down on intellectual property rights violations, possibly in an attempt to ease trade tensions with Washington.
Xinhua reported that the number of trials in Shanghai hit record high last year.
Lepin's website says it will continue to sell all remaining sets, but will not recover in the future.
