Are self-employed individuals liable for trademark infringement without knowledge?

If a self-employed person infringes the law without knowing it, he must bear the responsibility to stop the infringement. If a self-employed person sells infringing goods without knowing it and can prove that he obtained the goods legally and explained the supplier, the industrial and commercial administration department will order him to stop selling. Regarding the question of whether a self-employed person is liable for trademark infringement without knowing it, the editor of Legal Savior Network will answer it in detail for you below.

1. Are self-employed individuals liable for trademark infringement without knowledge?

If a self-employed person infringes a trademark without knowing it, he needs to bear the responsibility to stop the infringement.

If a self-employed person sells infringing goods without knowing it, and can prove that he obtained the goods legally and explained the supplier, he will be ordered to stop by the industrial and commercial administration department. Sale. Unknowing infringers also need to bear infringement responsibilities such as stopping the sale of the product and providing purchase channels to assist in investigating the source of counterfeit and inferior products. The right holder may negotiate with the infringing party to resolve the matter; request the industrial and commercial administration department to handle the matter; or file a lawsuit in the People's Court.

Article 1165 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China

If an actor causes damage due to wrongful infringement of the civil rights and interests of others, he shall bear tort liability. According to legal provisions, it is presumed that the actor is at fault, but if he cannot prove that he is not at fault, he shall bear tort liability.

2. How to deal with trademark infringement

1. First, pay attention to the collection of evidence. Only when there is sufficient evidence can the administrative law enforcement agency or judicial trial agency determine whether a certain act is an infringement as quickly as possible. Therefore, evidence is a prerequisite that affects the handling of cases. The evidence mainly includes:

(1) Documents proving the prior rights of the infringed party.

(2) Product samples of the infringed party.

(3) Samples of infringing products.

(4) PurchaseProof of purchasing infringing products. This mainly refers to the purchase invoice. The invoice must indicate the name of the infringing product, the place where the infringing product was purchased, the price of the infringing product, the name of the seller, etc.

2. Second, after we have preliminary collected and sorted the evidence, we should consult a professional agency. There are generally two ways to deal with infringement cases. Administrative investigations and litigation procedures.

3. Third, prepare a complaint or indictment. When preparing a complaint or indictment, attention should be paid to effectively combining facts and tone to facilitate the smooth progress of the case.

3. How to identify trademark infringement

What constitutes trademark infringement? The behavior requires the following four elements:

1. There must be illegal behavior, which means that the perpetrator has sold counterfeit registered trademark goods. ;

2. There must be a fact of damage, which means that the perpetrator's behavior of selling counterfeit trademarked goods has caused damage to the trademark owner. Selling goods that counterfeit someone else's registered trademark will cause serious property losses to the right holder, and will also cause damage to the goodwill of entities that enjoy registered trademark rights. Whether it is property damage or damage to goodwill, it is a fact of damage.

3. The offender is subjectively at fault, which means that the offender already knew or should have known that the goods sold were goods with counterfeit registered trademarks. .

4. There must be a causal relationship between the illegal act and the damage, that is, there must be a cause and effect between the illegal actor's sales behavior and the damage caused to the trademark owner. relation.

[Warm reminder]:The editor tells you: If an actor causes damage due to wrongful infringement of the civil rights and interests of others, he shall bear tort liability. According to legal provisions, it is presumed that the actor is at fault, but if he cannot prove that he is not at fault, he shall bear tort liability. I hope the above content can be helpful to you. If you have other questions, you can click the button below for consultation, or go to the Legal Savior website to consult a professional lawyer.