CHANG TSI
Insights
The Third People's Court of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, recently issued a first-instance judgment in a criminal case involving the sale of counterfeit nutritional supplements under several well-known brands. The defendant, Qing XX, was found guilty of selling goods bearing counterfeit registered trademarks and was sentenced to three years and ten months' imprisonment and a fine of RMB 800,000. In this criminal enforcement matter, Chang Tsi & Partners was retained by Pharmavite LLC (“Pharmavite”) and, through a combined strategy of early-stage sample authentication, online product identification, and retrieval of online sales data, successfully assisted the police and prosecutor in conducting a thorough investigation and a precise crackdown on the infringement chain — ultimately put the infringer into jail. This stands as another leading example of criminal enforcement by an overseas brand in China.
Nature Made (天维美) is a professional dietary supplement brand of the U.S. company Pharmavite LLC, founded in 1971 and established in the Chinese market from an early stage, where it has built strong consumer trust. Pharmavite lawfully holds the exclusive rights to its registered Nature Made (天维美) trademarks, covering nutritional supplements and related goods in Class 5. Having built its presence in China over more than a decade, Pharmavite has consistently placed brand and consumer protection at the center of its business, maintaining a zero-tolerance stance against IP infringement of any kind.
Beginning in 2024, the defendant Qing XX purchased counterfeit coenzyme, glucosamine, and other products bearing the counterfeit Nature Made mark from upstream suppliers, and resold them at a markup through multiple Taobao stores under his control — generating sales exceeding RMB 200,000. Qing XX was apprehended by the public security authorities in July 2025.
This case presented several challenges. First, the infringing activity took place primarily online, where transactions were dispersed and highly concealed, making evidence-gathering and characterization difficult. Second, only limited physical goods could be seized on site, making the amount involved in the offense hard to establish directly. Third, criminal enforcement for an overseas brand demands an especially complete and admissible evidentiary chain, where any weak link can affect the final conviction and sentencing. From an early stage, the Chang Tsi team became involved and, through a series of thorough investigative and collaborative efforts, helped the police and prosecutor build a complete, court-ready evidentiary chain:
1) Early sample purchases to secure key evidence: Before the case was formally initiated, Chang Tsi assisted the client in securing samples of the goods in question through lawful means and having them professionally authenticated. This confirmed the counterfeit nature of the goods at the outset, providing solid preliminary evidence for the subsequent report to authorities and the criminal filing.
2) Online data screening to establish the scale of the offense: Faced with the difficulty that only limited physical goods could be seized on site and the amount involved was hard to establish directly, Chang Tsi drew on a range of online data verification methods to reconstruct and pin down the scope and quantity of infringing products already sold, helping the police clarify and substantiate the total amount involved in Qing XX's sale of counterfeit Nature Made products.
3) Assisting in the verification of key facts: The police conducted multiple rounds of interrogation of Qing XX. Chang Tsi provided targeted professional support on matters such as supply channels, sales quantities, and transaction amounts, helping the authorities efficiently verify the relevant facts and laying a solid foundation for accurate characterization and sentencing.
4) Timely submission of legal documents: From the outset of the case through to the judgment, Chang Tsi continued to submit multiple legal documents and evidentiary materials to the police and prosecutors, systematically mapping out the history and amount of Qing XX's sale of counterfeit Nature Made products and prompting the authorities to conduct an in-depth investigation into the relevant online transaction leads — providing a solid foundation for the final conviction and sentencing.
The court ultimately accepted the complete evidentiary framework that Chang Tsi helped build and found that Qing XX had knowingly sold counterfeit goods under especially serious circumstances, resulting in a sentence of three years and ten months' imprisonment and a fine of RMB 800,000.
This case shows that when the various evidence-gathering and collaborative steps are tightly coordinated and diligently pursued, even complex cases can result in precise criminal accountability, offering a practical reference for similar matters. The court's acceptance of the digitized evidence in this case underscores the pivotal role that electronic evidence plays in intellectual property criminal cases.
Having built its presence in the Chinese market over more than a decade, Pharmavite has consistently placed brand and consumer protection at the center of its business, and this case fully reflects the company's zero-tolerance stance against trademark infringement of any kind. Chang Tsi & Partners, drawing on its deep experience in criminal IP enforcement and rigorous evidence organization, took proactive and precise action at every critical juncture of the case, serving as the core force behind its breakthrough — once again demonstrating the firm's strength in cross-border brand protection through criminal enforcement.
