The owners of Beijing's Silk Market have lost their appeal against a conviction for intellectual property rights violations but have vowed to take the case to the Supreme People's Court.
The Beijing Higher People's Court yesterday upheld a lower court ruling ordering the Xiu Shui Hao Sen firm and five vendors to pay a total of 100,000 yuan for selling counterfeit branded products.
The market's operators became the first on the mainland to be found guilty of copyright infringements when the Beijing No2 Intermediate People's Court handed down a verdict in December in favour of the big brands, which include Gucci, Burberry and Chanel.
But Silk Market general manager Wang Zili defended the company's practices, saying it satisfied its legal obligations by ensuring no fake goods were on display.
Mr Wang said his company had been working with the industry and commerce authorities to keep out fake products, while authorities had posted four inspectors at the market to carry out regular checks.
He said it was not fair to blame his company alone because the sale of counterfeit products was rampant across the mainland. He said the company would argue its case before the Supreme People's Court.