The court found that Blueblood (Shanghai) Wine Co copied the bottle design and packaging of Diageo's popular Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky and continued to do so even after being fined by the Shanghai government, following a complaint from Diageo in 2006. The award is unusually high and comes amid a Shanghai government anti-piracy campaign, in which officials are trying to show their commitment to protecting intellectual property rights.

Lawyers who specialise in intellectual property cases say the Diageo ruling, although clearly part of a propaganda offensive, does signal the Chinese authorities are taking counterfeiting much more seriously than in previous years.

China is the biggest source of counterfeit goods in the world, and intellectual property protection is a perennial issue at trade negotiations and diplomatic exchanges with other countries.