Clone brand Lepin has factories raided and owner is arrested for infringing the LEGO Group’s copyright
Shanghai Police have raided the factories of Lepin, a clone brand manufacturer copying LEGO products, and arrested the company’s owner.
Lepin has frustrated the LEGO Group for many years, as has been covered here at Brick Fanatics, by manufacturing inferior copies of the company’s products and even stealing designs from talented fans. Recently, efforts by the LEGO Group have started to pay off, with Lepin facing legal challenges and being given fines for copyright infringement.
The most dramatic turn yet has come from a report by the Shanghai Police, picked up by the Brick Fan, revealing that they have seized 90 production moulds and 630,000 finished products – worth around $30 million. The owner of Lepin was arrested during the raid, with the police describing those involved as “a criminal gang”.
Shanghai Police worked with law enforcement officers from Shantou and Shenzhen, to arrest four suspects, as they discovered more than 10 assembly lines, over 90 production moulds and around 200,000 instruction books.
Here are images that the law enforcers have shared of the raid:
In the UK, the Lepin trademark was successfully cancelled after the LEGO Group took action against the company. Last November, a court case also went in favour of the Billund based company, as the tide seemed to finally be turning against the clone brands using the LEGO Group’s intellectual property.
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Author Profile
- Graham was the Brick Fanatics Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects, including LEGO Star Wars: The Force of Creativity. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education.
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