Spin Master Sues Two Chinese Manufacturers for Patent and Copyright Infringement of Flutterbye Flying Fairy
Angeles (ots/PRNewswire)
Spin Master Ltd., Canada's largest children's toy and entertainment company and the world leader in flying toys, announced today that it has filed civil lawsuits against two Chinese manufacturers, Shantou Chenghai Hui Ying Toy Factory ("Hui Ying") and Shantou Chenghai Hua Cai Ke Yi Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. ("Hua Cai"). The two lawsuits filed with the Shantou Intermediate People's Court seek to recover damages and enjoin Hui Ying and Hua Cai from the further manufacture of what Spin Master alleges are knock-offs of Spin Master's best selling Flutterbye(R) Flying Fairy(TM), a flying doll that is controllable in the air with the palm of your hand.
Flutterbye Flying Fairy has become a global hit and has garnered numerous awards and accolades including two Toy of the Year nominations from the Toy Industry Association. The law suits claim infringement of both Spin Master's registered copyright and utility model patent. The alleged counterfeits are sold under the names, "Beautiful Flying Fairy"/"BaoNiu Flying Fairy" and "Flower Fairy".
"We will continue to protect our interests in this manner and show that if our rights are infringed we will act," said Ben Gadbois, Global President & Chief Operating Officer of Spin Master Ltd. "We feel it is important, not just for our company, but to protect our legitimate importers, distributors and the public that we raise awareness of these counterfeit products. As creators of innovative original products, we are constantly facing illegal knock-offs being purchased from Asia by retailers in North America and Europe because the knock-offs are cheaper."
To curb the infringement and illegal exportation of products that copy Flutterbye Flying Fairy, Spin Master has taken a series of measures, including online monitoring and administrative enforcement. To date, Spin Master has been successful in shutting down over 100 web-sites that were attempting to capitalize on the success of Spin Master's Flutterbye Flying Fairy by attempting to sell knock-off products into the global marketplace over the internet. Many of these websites were found to be selling product manufactured by the defendants in the law suits, Hui Ying and Hua Cai.
"Companies like ours invest millions of dollars every year in research and development to come up with original concepts and to manufacture exciting, challenging toys," says Chris Harrs, General Counsel for Spin Master Ltd. "While we register our copyrights, patents and trademarks, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of intellectual property violations. Infringers not only hurt our business by flooding the market with inferior products, they also hurt consumers who have come to rely on the quality of our products and our good name. Spin Master will continue to enforce its rights in the courts and work diligently with Customs and Border protection organizations throughout the world to enforce our intellectual property rights against counterfeiters"
About Spin Master Ltd.: A multi-category children's entertainment company, Spin Master has been designing, developing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer products for children around the world since 1994 and is recognized as a global growth leader within the toy industry. Spin Master is best known for such popular brands as boy's action phenomena and 2009-2010 Boy's Toy of the Year winner Bakugan Battle Brawlers(TM), and award-winning brands Air Hogs(R), Aquadoodle(TM), Flutterbye(TM), Spin Master Games(TM) including 2014 Game of the Year, Boom Boom Balloon (TM) and the popular Hedbanz(TM), SpyGear(TM), Tech Deck(TM), and the 2014 Innovative Toy of the Year Zoomer(TM). The company has also marked an entry into children's media with the launch of Spin Master Entertainment, a subsidiary focusing on the design, development and production of television and other media properties, including the hit animated preschool series, PAW Patrol(TM). Spin Master employs over 900 people with offices in Toronto, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Munich, and Milan. For additional information please visit: http://www.spinmaster.com.
For further information: please visit our website, http://www.spinmaster.com Chris Harrs General Counsel Spin Master Ltd. +1-416-364-6002 ext 2368 ChrisH@spinmaster.com