"Selling So Openly Like This"... Chinese Selling Taiwanese 'Jjakttong' at Bicycle Exhibition

Genuine Products Sold at Half Price at 'China Cycle Show'
Taiwan Company: "No Lawsuit Due to Patent Trial Time and Costs"

At the Shanghai International Bicycle Exhibition, the largest in China, controversy has arisen over the blatant sale of counterfeit products that illegally copied Taiwanese-made items.

On the 12th, Taiwanese media including Liberty Times reported that such incidents occurred at the "32nd China Cycle Show 2024," held for four days from the 5th at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in China. The affected company is a Taiwanese bicycle saddle startup called Ouyi (鷗翼·All-wings). Ouyi explained that it received reports from industry peers and customers that a Chinese company was publicly selling unauthorized copies of its products at the exhibition at about half the price of Ouyi’s own sales price (approximately $155 to $190).

Counterfeit Chinese bicycle saddle (above) and genuine Taiwanese product
[Image source: Captured from Taiwan Liberty Times, Yonhap News]

Ouyi stated that besides the business losses caused by this, it is also concerned about the damage to its brand image due to the counterfeit products. Zheng Xuyuan, CEO of Ouyi, said, "Our products have only participated in the Taipei International Bicycle Exhibition and have never taken part in any exhibitions in China." Ouyi has already completed international patent applications and registrations valid in China until 2035. However, it is practically difficult to protect these patents by law because patent infringement recognition through Chinese patent trials requires significant time and cost.

CEO Zheng said, "We can only take solace in the fact that Chinese companies have acknowledged our products," adding, "Instead of spending costs on Chinese patent trials, we will invest capital in research and development (R&D) of new products to enhance the recognition of our products."

Meanwhile, fitting the notorious label of a "counterfeit paradise," 96% of counterfeit products caught during domestic customs clearance last year were found to be made in China. In March, the Korea Customs Service announced that 68,000 cases of intellectual property rights infringement goods were detected at the customs clearance stage last year (based on express delivery lists), of which 65,000 cases, or 95.6%, were Chinese-made.

Last year, the amount of direct purchases from China reached $2.359 billion (approximately 3.1 trillion KRW), an increase of 58.5% compared to the previous year. China surpassed the United States ($1.453 billion) for the first time to become the top country for overseas direct purchases domestically. The share of China in the total overseas direct purchase amount also grew from 31.5% to 44.7%, far exceeding the United States’ 27.5%.