Study On The Anti Unfair Competition Law To Regulate The “Shanzhai” Products

In recent years, "Shanzhai" products have been a booming trend in China’s market economy. The cheap copy products integrate stylish look and diverse functions of brand name products, and they are also quite inexpensive, which make them the favorite of many consumers. "Shanzhai" products are manufactured based on imitation, which may result in infringement and violation of laws. It attracts people’s attention to legal regulation involved. Imitation products are put into circulates in the competitive market, which makes imitation a competitive behavior. However, it imposes different impacts as imitation behavior is justified or not. Improper imitation behavior harms the interests of legitimate competitor in competitive market and disrupts the fair market order of competition. Anti-unfair Competition Law prohibits behaviors which violate and hinder fair competition of the market. Improper imitation of "Shanzhai" products is, of course, prohibited too."Shanzhai" is a realization of imitation in the economy. It appears in the profit-driven market where there is huge market demand, variable consumption concept and improving technology. It is the creature of China’s national conditions and the deficiency of legal system. "Shanzhai" products are manufactured mainly based on low-cost imitation. Analysis on imitation behavior regarding to such products is the basis of the regulation of Anti-unfair Competition Law. As there are both proper and improper imitation behaviors, the impacts imposed by imitation can also be interpreted as positive or negative accordingly.From the perspective of the Anti-unfair Competition Law, "Shanzhai", in essence, is imitation. In certain circumstances, imitation infringes competitor’s intellectual property and obstructs competition. Legal regulation of imitation products determines the legality of the freedom of imitation. It is the interest game between free competition and fair competition, which are the theoretical basis for Anti-unfair Competition Law to regulate imitation products. Based on current situation, to a certain extent, Article 5 and 10 of China’s Anti-unfair Competition Law can regulate imitation products. However, due to the diversity of improper imitation behaviors, only two simple legal provisions can not fully regulate imitation products. Moreover, there are deficiencies of China’s Anti-unfair Competition Law on the regulation of "Shanzhai" products, such as the absence of specific general terms and principled provisions, the narrow scope of protection for imitated object, the unbalance between administrative responsibility and civil liability. Therefore, further improvement of China’s Anti-Unfair competition Law is expected on the regulation of imitation products.By analyzing the improper imitation behavior of "Shanzhai" products and the deficiencies of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, as well as by studying legal systems about regulating unfair imitation behavior in other countries, this Paper proposes improving measures of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, which include the perfection of principled provisions of product imitation, the addition of specific terms on "Shanzhai" products regulation and the supplement of civil liability involved with "Shanzhai" products.