In a recent enforcement action, Ninghai Pengda Textiles Co Ltd faced administrative penalties for copyright infringement related to unauthorized merchandise featuring the minions – the globally popular yellow characters in the American animated comedy series of films.

On June 13, 2023, the company – through Shanghai Hanglian Customs Broker Ltd – declared a shipment of paper air fresheners for export to India via general trade.

However, during a routine inspection, customs authorities discovered that the goods bore unauthorized cartoon images of "Minion from Despicable Me 2D -1", copyrighted by Universal City Studios LLC.

A total of 19,200 sets of paper air fresheners, valued at 25,444 yuan ($3,514), were found to infringe the copyrights held by Universal.

On confirmation with the rights holder, the latter requested customs detain the shipment. Following an investigation, customs concluded that Ninghai Pengda's act of exporting goods featuring the copyrighted minion images without permission constituted a violation of Article 53 (1) of the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China.

As a result, customs authorities confiscated all the infringing paper air fresheners and imposed a fine of 2,500 yuan on Ninghai Pengda Textiles.

The case is said to underscore the vigilance of customs officials in protecting intellectual property rights on China's borders.