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ALPA Capaul & Weber AG is delighted to announce that the Sichuan High People’s Court ruled in a second attempt again for the appeal of ALPA.

This further confirmation of the originality of ALPAcameras and thus the recognition and appreciation for our products by theChinese state pleases us enormously. It is another step on the way to protect products against unauthorized copying. For a company like ALPA, operating in a specific market with a highly specialized tool, it is an important landmark for all the manufacturers that are facing counterfeits of their products are sold on the market.

The case of copyright infringement started back in 2016 and came to a first conclusion in 2020 after 4 years of ongoing trial. The long awaited verdict was later covered in Swiss newspaper NZZ with a full length article about ALPAs long lasting relationship with China. In the end of 2021, the Sichuan High People’s Court same as Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court before, came to the result that the ALPA cameras are indeed "a work of art“.

The Chinese courts again has recognised ALPA cameras as objects of applied art and as particularly worthy of protection. The defendant was found guilty of having repeatedly infringed ALPA's copyright.

Here you can find the «Summary of the Appeal Decision in the case ALPA vs GuoZh» put together by our legal partners from iprime rentsch.

“In determining whether Alpa’s three camera models constitute works of applied art that are eligible for protection under theCopyright Law of China, the Appeal Court rejects the ground of appeal and affirms first that Alpa’s three camera models “have reached such level of artistic creation of works of fine art”. Then, the Appeal Court holds that “the practical functions of the alleged three camera models are mainly for taking photos, while their artistic aesthetics are mainly reflected in the choice of body shape, the combination of metal body and wooden handles, design of the shape, layout of top and bottom symmetrical fasteners, the combination with golden bolts, etc., all of which express a strong sense of classical art aesthetics. …, their practical functions are independent from their artistic aesthetics and exist separately.”

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