Industrial Property Law

1) Natural persons
Article L. 615-14 of the Intellectual Property Code punishes any person who knowingly infringes the rights of a patent owner, as defined by Articles L. 613-3 to L. 613-6 of the Intellectual Property Code, with three years' imprisonment and a fine of up to EUR 300,000.
The laws of 9 March 2004 , 3 October 2007  and 3 June 2016  significantly increased the level of criminal penalt …

Sanctions

Article L. 615-14 of the Intellectual Property Code punishes any person who knowingly infringes the rights of a patent owner, as defined by Articles L. 613-3 to L. 613-6 of the Intellectual Property Code, with three years' imprisonment and a fine of up to EUR 300,000.

The laws of 9 March 2004 , 3 October 2007  and 3 June 2016  significantly increased the level of criminal penalties. Where the offense is committed as part of an organized gang, or on an online public communication network, or where the facts concern goods dangerous to human or animal health or safety, penalties are increased to seven years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 750,000 (Art. L. 615-14, al. 2, IP Code). In the event of repeat offenses, or if the offender is or was bound by an agreement with the injured party, he or she faces up to six years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 600,000 (Art. L. 615-14-1, para. 1, IP Code).

The court may also impose additional penalties on individuals guilty of the offense of patent infringement. For example, they may be ordered to remove from commercial channels, at their own expense, objects deemed to be infringing and anything used or intended for use in committing the offense, or, at their own expense, to destroy or hand over to the injured party the objects and goods removed from commercial channels or confiscated, without prejudice to any applicable damages, or to post or publicize the judgment imposing the sentence, in accordance with the stipulations of Article 131-35 of the Criminal Code (Art. L. 615-14-2 IP Code). Convicted offenders may also be deprived, for a period not exceeding five years, of the right to stand for office and be elected to commercial courts, territorial chambers of commerce and industry and chambers of trade, and industrial tribunals (Art. L. 615-14-1, para. 2, IP Code).

Legal entities held criminally liable for offenses committed, on their behalf, by their governing bodies or representatives, under the conditions set out in Article 121-2 of the Criminal Code, are liable to a fine equal to five times that set out for natural persons by the law penalizing the offense (Art. 131-38 Criminal Code). They may also face the penalties provided for in Article 131-39 of the same code. The prohibition, whether definitive or for a maximum of five years, from directly or indirectly exercising one or more professional or social activity, referred to in section 2° of Article 131-39, concerns the activity in the exercise or on the occasion of the exercise of which the offense was committed (Art. L. 615-14-3, para. 1 and 2, IP Code).

Legal entities found to be criminally liable may also be ordered, at their own expense, to remove from commercial channels objects deemed to be counterfeit, as well as anything used or intended for use in the commission of the offense. The court may order the destruction, at the expense of the convicted legal entity, or the return to the injured party of the objects and things removed from commercial channels or confiscated, without prejudice to any right to damages (Art. L. 615-14-3, paras. 3 and 4, IP Code).

Law No 2004-204 of 9 March 2004 adapting the justice system to developments in crime, OJ of 10 March 2004.

Law No 2007-1544 of 29 October 2007 on the fight against intellectual property infringement, OJ of 30 October 2007.

Law No 2016-731 of 3 June 2016 reinforcing the fight against organized crime, terrorism and the financing thereof, and improving the effectiveness and safeguards of criminal procedure, OJ of 4 June 2016.

Industrial Property Law

418. Sanctions

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les notions juridiques connexes

418. Sanctions

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise