BEIJING -- Police seized nearly 30,000 fake products for the 2008 Olympics, mainly copies of the official mascots, since the beginning of the year, state media reported Sunday.
Xinhua News Agency said most fakes were sold near subways, at night markets or on the Internet. The majority were copies of the Fuwas, the "Five Friendlies" -- the mascots of the games. They are a panda, Tibetan antelope, fish, swallow and the Olympic flame.
Chen Feng, deputy director of the marketing department at the Beijing organizing committee, was quoted as saying efforts had been stepped up to protect the intellectual property rights of Olympic products.
"If we don't strengthen the crackdown on counterfeit products now, they will become rampant during the Games," Chen said.
Trademarked products stand to generate significant revenue and public support for the Beijing Games, which will cost about $38 billion.
Sales of licensed products, including those with the mascots, brought in about $300 million at each of the last Olympics. Host cities keep 10 percent to 15 percent of the royalties.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
