(Yicai Global) Dec. 29 -- The head of Chinese toy brand Lepin has been sentenced to six years in prison and fined CNY90 million (USD13.8 million) for counterfeiting Lego products.

Another eight defendants were sentenced to prison terms of between four and a half years and three years, with corresponding fines, according to a post on the official WeChat account of the Shanghai High People’s Court today upholding the trial court’s judgment in September.

The Copyright Protection Centre of China had previously identified Lepin’s brick products Great Wall of China, Primitive Tribe, Fairy Tale, and Technician as copies of products made by Lego.

Since 2015, the defendants had violated the Danish company’s copyright by buying and replicating new Lego toys without Lego’s permission as well as registered toy factories and sold toy sets online and offline under the Lepin brand, the court said.

Shanghai police last year seized injection molds Lepin used to replicate Lego toys, spare parts used to assemble the molds, packing boxes and manuals for Lepin toys, sales orders, computers, mobile phones, and Lepin toys copied from Lego sets.

About 4.24 million boxes of copycat products were involved in the case, worth over CNY300 million (USD45.9 million).

Editor: Peter Thomas