A member of staff at the National Palace Museum displays white and green jade cabbage. [Photo/IC]

"Most of the infringed items were sold on the mainland, and we have sent letters to dealers to remove those items from shelves."

Removing the copycats is no easy task. As Feng admitted at the Taiwan Legislative Council last month, even though the museum has tracked down the copycat items and reported to the Standards Bureau, across the straits lawsuits are too costly to afford.

"Mainland visitors account for about 30 percent of the visitors to the National Palace Museum, and 40 percent of sales. They can appreciate the cultural connotations in our designs, and we hope they can buy the authentic ones," said a National Palace Museum spokesperson.

As reported, the National Palace Museum has been devoted in the inheritance and innovation of the antiques since the 1960s. The museum made duplicates of the antiques but it was not until 2000 that the museum began to add innovation in the items, making them more up to date and appealing.