Definition and sentencing of the crime of selling counterfeit registered trademarks
Definition: According to Article 200 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China Article 14 stipulates that the crime of selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks refers to the act of selling goods that are knowingly counterfeit and registered trademarks, with a sales amount of more than 50,000 yuan.
Article 214 Anyone who knowingly sells goods with counterfeit 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 be sentenced to Or a fine alone; if the sales amount is huge, the person shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years, and shall also be fined.
[Explanation] This article is about the crime of selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks and the penalties for them.
The act of selling counterfeit registered trademark goods infringes upon the trademark registrant’s exclusive right to use the trademark, and objectively causes a large number of counterfeit, inferior, and substandard products to enter the market. It has an impact on famous and high-quality products and similar products, and also seriously damages the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. To constitute a crime stipulated in this article, the following conditions must be met:
1. The perpetrator must be subjectively aware. That is, knowing that the goods are counterfeiting other people's registered trademarks and still selling them, and making illegal profits from them. Whether the perpetrator knew it or not is an important distinction between the crime and its non-crime. When applying the provisions of this article, there must be evidence to prove that the perpetrator knows that the goods he sells are counterfeit goods with registered trademarks of others. If the perpetrator does not know that the goods are counterfeited registered trademarks and sells them, it does not constitute a crime. In practice, the following aspects are mainly used to judge whether the perpetrator knows: (1) whether the perpetrator has been informed that the goods sold are counterfeit registered trademarks; (2) the purchase price and quality of the goods sold are significantly lower than those on the market. The purchase price and quality of counterfeit registered trademark goods; (3) Based on the perpetrator’s own experience and knowledge, he can know that he is selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks.
2. The perpetrator objectively carried out the act of selling goods that he knew were counterfeit registered trademarks. "Sales" here should be broad, including wholesale, retail, agency sales, sales and other sales links. "Counterfeit"Registered trademark" refers to counterfeiting a trademark that has been registered by others. If a trademark that has not yet been registered is used on goods as a registered trademark, it does not constitute a crime stipulated in this article and is a violation of registered trademark management.
3. The sales amount must reach a relatively large amount to constitute a crime. This is also an important boundary between crime and non-crime. According to the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security's "On Economic Crime Cases" "Provisions on Prosecution Standards", if you knowingly sell goods that are counterfeit registered trademarks, if the individual sales amount is more than 100,000 yuan, and the unit sales amount is more than 500,000 yuan, it is considered a "large amount" and should be prosecuted.
This article stipulates two levels of punishment for the crime of selling goods that are knowingly counterfeiting registered trademarks: that is, if the sales amount is relatively large, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and or a fine alone; 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.
In practice, if the perpetrator sells If a product counterfeits someone else's registered trademark and the product itself is a counterfeit product, which constitutes the crime of producing or selling counterfeit and inferior products, it shall be punished in accordance with the heavier penalties stipulated in the criminal law.
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