A recent IPR infringement case has embroiled plaintiff Han Yuan and the defendants Xu Yan, a lecturer at Fudan University, and Wuhan University Press in a plagiarism scandal. AllBright’s senior IPR lawyer, Qi Baoxin, was engaged by the plaintiff to execute her intellectual property rights. Wuhan University Press was represented by lawyer Chen Weiliang from Hubei Jiuchou law firm.
Han alleges that the lecturer copied part of her earlier doctoral article in the contents of a book co-authored by Xu and their mentor, journalism professor Li Liang Rong. She says that ‘The Choice of History’, a book published by Wuhan University Press, is a result of plagiarism. Xu contributed 36,197 words to the book, of which 40% (14,313 words) was wholly copied from the article.
“Sections of the book were copied word-for-word from the plaintiff’s version with no accreditation. The copied contents are my client’s theory for an analysis and this plagiarism has effectively caused her economic losses,” said her lawyer.
“My client has met the defendant on several occasions wanting to resolve this issue via settlement but to no avail. A lawsuit was an inevitable channel to safeguard her rights. This is a new but effective way to stop illegal behaviour that affects the academic industry,” Qi added.
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