Attendants wearing Mickey Mouse ears stand in front of a large screen showing a picture of Shanghai’s skyline during an event for the new Shanghai Disney Resort on July 15, 2015.
     
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    The Middle Kingdom is taking extra steps to protect the Magic Kingdom from copycats.
    Chinese authorities have launched a year-long special campaign to protect Walt Disney Co.’s trademarks in advance of the opening of a new, $5.5 billion Disney theme park in Shanghai. A Chinese agency that oversees business registrations and practices will establish “emergency teams” to watch out for Disney-themed fakes for sale online or elsewhere and coordinate efforts among national and local officials.
    According to a notice from China’s State Administration for Industry and Commercereleased on Thursday but dated Oct. 19, the aim is to “basically terminate large-scale infringement of Disney trademarks” on major Internet platforms.
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    Customers shop at China’s first Disney flagship store at the Lujiazui Financial district in Shanghai.
     
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    Disney spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
    The move highlights China’s continued problems with counterfeit goods and other pirated intellectual property. But it also marks the latest example of Chinese authorities stepping up to help the park, which Disney is building with the help of a group of companies controlled by the government of the city of Shanghai. The group, called Shanghai Shendi, owns 57% of Shanghai Disney Resort, with Disney holding the rest.
    “I would say this kind of super-national treatment is very rare for foreign brands or foreign invested companies in China,” said You Yunting, Shanghai-based intellectual property attorney.
    “Disney understands it isn’t easy to protect their intellectual property and trademarks in China. Its major strategy is to keep a close relationship with local government officials and to cry out loudly and often to get their ear,” Mr. You said.
    Other measures taken by the government include shutting down local polluters, helping to form a Disney-themed firefighting force and issuing custom weather reports for planning events such as parades and fireworks shows. Shanghai is also building a subway extension to the park, in the city’s Pudong area.
    Walt Disney Company chairman and CEO Bob Iger speaks about the new Shanghai Disney Resort during a press event on July 15, 2015.
     
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    Calls to SAIC officials and Shanghai tourism officials who are overseeing the project rang unanswered.
    Foreign companies have long complained about China’s lax enforcement of intellectual property. In a survey in April, 86% of more than 400 members surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce in China said enforcement had improved, but more than three-quarters said it was still ineffective or very ineffective.
    China’s latest economic blueprint for the next five years, set to take effect next year, includes calls to increase intellectual property protection – including improved laws and greater law enforcement for both foreign and domestic companies – as it tries to shift its economy away from manufacturing and toward innovation and entrepreneurship.
    The park represents a major bet by Disney on the appeal to Chinese consumers of everybody from Mickey Mouse to Jack Sparrow, the mincing pirate played by Johnny Depp in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. Plans include a princess castle, a “Pirates”-themed section and a hotel with a “Toy Story” theme.
    Others such as Comcast Corp.’s Universal Parks & Results, Six Flags Entertainment Corp., DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. and China’s Dalian Wanda Group Corp. have also launched plans to open theme parks in China as they chase growing disposable income among Chinese consumers.
    –Yang Jie