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Japan finds record 13,467 attempted counterfeit import cases in 2005+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 4_(Kyodo) _ Japan's nine customs houses found 13,467 cases of attempted counterfeit imports in 2005, up 47.3 percent from the previous year and hitting a record high, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday. Shipments of copies of items such as bags, watches and clothing from China excluding Hong Kong jumped 87.0 percent to 6,278 cases, making it the biggest sending country of products in violation of intellectual property rights for the first time, the ministry said. China accounted for 46.6 percent of the total cases, up from 36.7 percent, it said. Shipments from South Korea rose 31.5 percent to 6,045 cases, accounting for 44.9 percent, down from 50.3 percent. Collectively, China and South Korea made up 91.5 percent of the total cases of illegal imports of items under intellectual property law. Hong Kong came third with 369 cases, down 12.8 percent and accounting for 2.7 percent of the total cases. Shipments from the Philippines fell 5.7 percent to 365 cases, while those from Thailand climbed 23.6 percent to 272 cases. Meanwhile, the number of illegal copies found at the customs houses totaled 1,097,400 in the reporting year, up 5.8 percent from 2004, the ministry said. Of the total, 253,327 were bags, 176,862 were clothing items, 77,702 were cellular phones or related items, and 34,344 were watches, it said. |