Yesterday the Shanghai court reached a verdict in the case of the fake Louis Vuitton bags that werre sold in Carrefour in Shanghai (see my blog entry about this). The company that operates the Carrefour shops argued that they did not know the bags were fake, so they could not be forced to pay compensation. But the court did not agree witht that and ordered them to pay RMB 300,000 in compensation to LV (LV had sued for RMB 500,000). It makes you wonder what other fake products are sold in Carrefour!
This reminds me of a story I heard a few years ago in Beijing. I had dinner with Don St. Pierre (he used to head Beijing Jeep in the mid-1980’s, and who now owns ASC wines. The Chateau St. Pierre wines that you see in many restaurants are his invention.), who told me that many wines sold in China are actually fakes. It is very simple, he said. What happens is that cheap wine from countries like Bulgaria is bought in bulk, and bottled in China. Then the crooks print fake French labels and put them on the bottles. These bottles are then sold as real French wines to unsuspecting stores and wholesalers. Note: I do not imply that Carrefour is doing this. Carrefour is actually one of the few stores in China where I dare to buy wine (next to ordering online at ASC wines of course).