Industrial Property Law

Offenses under Article L. 716-9 of the Intellectual Property Code are punishable by four years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 400,000 (Art. L. 716-9, para. 1, IP Code), those under Article L. 716-10 by three years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 300,000 (Art. L. 716-10, para. 1, IP Code).
When those offenses have been committed in an organized gang or on an online public communication network, or …

Criminal sanctions

Offenses under Article L. 716-9 of the Intellectual Property Code are punishable by four years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 400,000 (Art. L. 716-9, para. 1, IP Code), those under Article L. 716-10 by three years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 300,000 (Art. L. 716-10, para. 1, IP Code).

When those offenses have been committed in an organized gang or on an online public communication network, or when the facts concern goods that are dangerous to human or animal health or safety, the penalties are increased to seven years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 750,000 (Art. L. 716-9, para. 2, and L. 716-10, para. 3, IP Code).

Offenses relating to collective, guarantee and union marks provided for in Article L. 716-11 of the Intellectual Property Code are punishable by the same penalties as the offenses provided for in Article L. 716-10 of the same code (Article L. 716-11, para. 1, IP Code).

In cases of repeat infringement of Articles L. 716-9 to L. 716-11 of the Intellectual Property Code, or if the infringer is or has been bound by an agreement with the victim, the penalties incurred are doubled (Art. L. 716-12, para. 1, IP Code).

Legal entities declared criminally liable for the infringements listed in Articles L. 716-9 to L. 716-11 of the IP Code incur a fine of up to five times that provided for natural persons (Article L. 716-11-2 IP Code).

The penalties for the offense of trademark infringement provided for in Articles L. 716-9 and L. 716-10 of the Intellectual Property Code may include the closure of the establishment having served to commit the offense (Art. L. 716-11-1 IP Code). Closure may be total or partial, permanent or temporary. Temporary closure may not last longer than five years and may not result in the termination or suspension of employment contracts, nor any financial harm to the employees concerned. When a permanent closure leads to the dismissal of staff, it gives rise, , to the damages provided for in Articles L. 1235-2 to L. 1235-5 and L. 1235-11 to L. 1235-13 of the Labor Code in the event of termination of the employment contract in addition to compensation in lieu of notice and redundancy pay. Non-payment of those indemnities is punishable by six months' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 3,750.

The court may order the offenders to remove at their own expense from commercial channels, the items deemed to be in violation of the law and any thing that was used or intended for use in committing the infringement (Art. L. 716-13, para. 1, IP Code). It can order the destruction at the expense of the convicted person or the surrender to the injured party of the objects and materials withdrawn from commercial channels or confiscated, without prejudice to the payment of damages (Article L. 716-13, paragraph 2, IP Code), the posting of the judgment or the publication of the judgment passing the sentence (Article L. 716-13, paragraph 3, IP Code).

In the event of recidivism with respect to the infringements provided for in Articles L. 716-9 to L. 716-11, or if the infringer is or has been bound by an agreement with the injured party, the court may deprive the infringer, for a maximum of five years, of the right to be elected and to be eligible for election to commercial courts, regional chambers of commerce and industry and chambers of trade, as well as to the labor courts (Art. L. 716-12, para. 2, IP Code).

Legal entities found criminally liable for the offenses provided for in Articles L. 716-9 to L. 716-11 of the Intellectual Property Code incur the penalties provided for in Article 131-39 of the Criminal Code (Article L. 716-11-2 IP Code). They include in particular dissolution, prohibition from carrying out the activity concerned by the offense, permanent closure, or exclusion from certain markets. Legal entities may be ordered, to remove from commercial channels the objects judged to be infringing and any thing that was used or intended to be used to commit the infringement at their own costs (Art. L. 716-11-2, paragraph 3, IP Code).

Industrial Property Law

180. Criminal sanctions

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Les notions juridiques connexes

180. Criminal 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