What is the criminal liability for trademark infringement
If trademark infringement constitutes a crime, in addition to compensating the infringer's losses, The judicial authorities shall investigate criminal liability in accordance with the law.
Anyone who counterfeits someone else’s registered trademark will be liable to Complaints and reports may be made to the industrial and commercial administrative organs or inspection organs; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated by the judicial organs.
With the deepening of my country’s reform and opening up, many enterprises Create your own well-known trademarks, and there are more and more foreign well-known trademarks in our market. At the same time, trademark infringement activities are becoming increasingly rampant, and the number of major and serious criminal cases is increasing day by day. Criminals who specialize in illegally printing trademarks, manufacturing inferior products that counterfeit other people's registered trademarks, and promoting goods with other people's registered trademarks collude with each other, seriously disrupting the order of trademark management, infringing on trademark exclusive rights, harming consumers, and disrupting the market. One of the reasons why trademark infringement crimes are rampant is the lack of legal means and the inability to impose severe sanctions. Therefore, in the revised Trademark Law, the Supplementary Provisions on Punishing the Crime of Counterfeiting Registered Trademarks, and especially the new Criminal Law, my country has expanded the actors involved in the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks; it has also strengthened the protection of registered trademarks. Intensity; it increases the provisions for legal persons committing the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks, and increases the criminal penalties for trademark infringement crimes; it stipulates that the criminal liability of state personnel for engaging in malpractice for personal gain when handling the above three types of trademark infringement crimes is stipulated.
1. Crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks Criminal liability
If the circumstances of counterfeiting someone else’s registered trademark are serious, The person shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also or solely be fined; if the circumstances are particularly serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than seven years, and shall also be fined.
2. Criminal liability for selling counterfeit registered trademark goods
Whoever sells goods with counterfeit trademarks of others for a relatively large amount shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also or solely be fined ; If the sales amount is huge, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years, and shall also be fined.
3. Criminal liability for the crime of illegally manufacturing and selling others’ registered trademarks
Whoever illegally manufactures or sells trademarks registered by others, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or surveillance, and shall also or solely be fined; if the circumstances are particularly serious, , shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years, and shall also be fined.
4. Criminal liability for crimes committed by enterprises and institutions
If an enterprise or institution commits the above three crimes, the unit shall be fined, and the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible personnel shall be held criminally responsible in accordance with the above provisions. "Directly responsible persons in charge" and "other directly responsible persons" refer to the planners, organizers, commanders and main implementers of trademark infringement criminal activities.
5. Criminal liability for crimes committed by state functionaries
State staff use their positions to punish those who knowingly commit the above-mentioned crimes. For the three crimes, enterprises, institutions or individuals deliberately shield themselves from prosecution and shall be held criminally responsible in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law.
"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China" 211 Article 14
[Sales of goods with counterfeit registered trademarks Crime] Selling goods that are knowingly counterfeiting registered trademarks, and the sales amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also or solely be fined; if the sales amount is huge, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than seven years, and impose a fine.
Article 215 [Illegal manufacturing , Selling Illegally Manufactured Registered Trademarks] Forgery, unauthorized manufacture of registered trademarks of others, or sale of forged or unauthorized registered trademarks. If the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or surveillance, and shall also or solely be fined. ; If the circumstances are particularly serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years, and shall also be fined.
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