Chinese suspects charged for forging “Gillette” razor blades

HANGZHOU, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Prosecutors have charged two brothers with producing 160,000 fake "Gillette" razor blades in east China's Zhejiang Province.

The brothers, surnamed Zhang, are accused of assembling "Gillette Mach 3" razor blades at home with family members since June 2005 without the permission from Gillette (China), according to the People's Procuratorate of Wencheng County in Wenzhou City.

The brothers had received an order for the blades from a partner in Shanghai whose identity was being investigated, prosecutors allege.

Informed by Beijing Wanhuida Intellectual Property Agency on behalf of Gillette, industrial and commercial officers with Wencheng County raided the home on July 4 last year, confiscating more than 30,000 blades.

However, more than 120,000 blades had allegedly been transported to Shanghai, according to their alleged confession.

It is estimated the counterfeits were worth about 2.54 million yuan (336,000 U.S. dollars) based on the average market price in Wenzhou.

Evidence collected over the past year showed the suspects had violated the legal rights of Gillette and other authorized retailers, said Jin Ruijun, public procurator in charge of the case.

Jin pledged that the local authorities would reinforce a crackdown on intellectual property infringement.

A date for a court hearing has yet to be announced.