Beijing's Xidan Shopping Centre agreed yesterday to pay compensation of 60,000 yuan (US$7,200) to the international pen-maker Parker for selling pirated products.

The agreement, reached between the well-known department store and Parker Pen (Shanghai) Ltd, was presided over by Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court yesterday.

The shopping centre promised not to sell any pens in future that violated Parker's trademark.

The shopping centre is just the latest of a number of retail outlets in the capital that have been sued by Parker for selling counterfeit products.

Although the case revealed that the Xidan Shopping Centre had sold pirated pens, it insisted in court that it was not responsible.

"The pen seller rented a shop in our department store, and provided legal certificates to us," Chen Changling, a store worker, said yesterday at court.

"We had no idea that the store was selling counterfeit pens," she said.

However, Yuan Yifan, the lawyer representing Parker, said yesterday, "The final agreement proved that the department store had violated the trademark rights of Parker."

Sources with the store declined to comment on the agreement yesterday.

Parker Pen (Shanghai) initially asked for compensation of 300,000 yuan (US$36,000) from the store in court.

"Our purpose was not merely to seek compensation. Parker aims to warn those who infringe its trademark rights through legal action," Yuan told China Daily yesterday.

He said Parker was satisfied with the result.

No compensation Parker has received from over 20 department stores in the capital city for selling pirated pens this year has reached 10,000 yuan (US$12,000), sources said.

Besides the Xidan Shopping Centre, Parker has also sued the Jinwuxing Market at Haidian District People's Court for trademark infringement.

The market agreed last month to compensate the pen producer by paying 50,000 yuan (US$6,000).

(China Daily June 8, 2005)