With World Intellectual Property Day approaching on April 26, the Xuhui District People's Procuratorate in Shanghai released a white paper on intellectual property protection and typical case studies on April 16, detailing its work over the past three years. According to the document, from 2023 to 2025, the procuratorate handled 152 intellectual property criminal cases involving 295 individuals. Copyright infringement cases constituted a significant portion, ranking first in the district for two consecutive years and accounting for nearly half of all such cases. The number of individuals involved in both copyright infringement and selling counterfeit trademarked goods showed a marked upward trend, with the latter seeing a surge of over 100% for two years running. By 2025, selling counterfeit trademarked goods became the most common intellectual property crime.

Emerging cultural sectors such as online games, anime figurines, and trendy toys are frequent targets of infringement. Illicit actors employ methods like low-cost replication, rapid dissemination, and imitation or theft of original creations to squeeze out legitimate products' market share and revenue streams. The white paper highlighted three main characteristics of current intellectual property crimes. First, there is a pronounced trend toward organized, chain-like criminal groups that often operate under the guise of companies, enterprises, or studios to conceal illegal activities and commingle legal and illicit proceeds. Second, crimes are increasingly internet-based and technical in nature, with counterfeit sales predominantly conducted via online platforms, shifting transactions from physical to digital spaces and utilizing third-party payment systems for settlement. Offenders also employ tactics like copying software source code, using web crawlers to steal genuine content, cracking software dongles, and illegally bypassing technical protections.

Third, cross-border intellectual property crimes are rising, with perpetrators leveraging digital technology to erase geographical boundaries, forming gray and black industrial chains that involve overseas servers, domestic promotion, cross-border payments, and global distribution. Among the典型案例 cited by the procuratorate was a case involving nine individuals accused of selling counterfeit trademarked goods from the Chinese trendy toy brand Pop Mart. Between July 2024 and July 2025, the principal defendant, Wang, conspired with others including Wu and Chen to sell dolls from the "Labubu" and "Cry Baby" series bearing the "POP MART" registered trademark on platforms like Taobao and Xianyu without authorization from Beijing Pop Mart Cultural Creativity Co., Ltd. A judicial audit determined that the group's sales of counterfeit dolls exceeded 13 million yuan. On July 4, 2025, authorities seized over 3,900 counterfeit dolls from a warehouse in Longgang District, Shenzhen, linked to Wang. The seized items, valued at no less than 150,000 yuan, were confirmed to be counterfeit.

The Xuhui District Procuratorate prosecuted Wang for selling counterfeit registered trademark goods. The court of first instance sentenced him to five years in prison, imposed a fine of 4 million yuan, and ordered the confiscation of all counterfeit dolls. Other involved individuals, including salesperson Wu, have also been prosecuted. Procurators emphasized that the "Labubu" doll is a well-known product under Pop Mart and a representative IP symbolizing the global reach of Chinese trendy toys. Despite the substantial involved amount of over 13 million yuan, Wang, as the principal, offered no confession after apprehension. He claimed the dolls were "neutral products" without trademarks, challenged the legality of the seizure process, and disputed the sales figures. The procuratorate guided police in strengthening evidence by corroborating witness statements, retrieving body camera footage and chat records, and conducting sample authentication, systematically refuting his defenses before proceeding with prosecution.