Rubber Duck lands in Beijing(3)

Rubber Duck on Friday, before its nose was repaired.Photo: Li Hao/GT

A mother and son pose with Rubber Duck on Sunday, after its nose job.Photo: Li Hao/GT

Families are thrilled to see the famous Rubber Duck for themselves. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Copycat ducks

At least 10 counterfeit replicas have already popped up in other mainland cities, including Dongguan in Guangdong Province, Tianjin, Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province and Wuhan in Hubei Province, according to a report by the South China Morning Post on August 29.

And on Thursday, the day before the authentic duck's debut, a smaller inflated duck promoting environmental awareness appeared in Beijing's Yuyuantan Park, accompanied by seven inflated duck eggs with "green dream" written on them in Chinese.

Wang Jun, an intellectual property consultant for BDW, said that they were investigating these cases for intellectual property right infringement.

"We need to find out whether it was for the public interest, and whether they constitute infringement. If it's serious infringement on copyright, we can demand they to stop infringing, apologize, and compensate us for losses."

Zeng said BDW, the official copyright holder in China, is against copyright infringement, and is planning to take legal action against the real estate developer that launched a copycat Rubber Duck at Nanhaizi Park in Daxing district last week.

"Our legal team has sent them a letter. But we are not doing this just for the sake of litigation. We hope all of us can enjoy the happiness brought by the authentic Rubber Duck."

A Garden Expo official predicted record crowds of families and other visitors during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, which will be celebrated September 19 to 21.