Industrial Property Law

Article L. 521-10 of the Intellectual Property Code stipulates that any infringement knowingly committed against the property rights of the design owner is punishable by three years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 300,000.
When the offense has been committed as part of an organized gang or on an online public communication network, or when the facts concern goods dangerous to human or animal healt …

Criminal sanction

Article L. 521-10 of the Intellectual Property Code stipulates that any infringement knowingly committed against the property rights of the design owner is punishable by three years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 300,000.

When the offense has been committed as part of an organized gang or on an online public communication network, or when the facts concern goods dangerous to human or animal health or safety, the penalties are increased to seven years' imprisonment and a EUR 750,000 fine.

In addition, the court may order the total or partial, permanent or temporary closure, for a maximum of five years, of the establishment that was used to commit the offense (Art. L. 521-10, para. 2, IP Code). Temporary closure may not result in termination or suspension of the employment agreement, nor in any financial detriment to the employees concerned. When permanent closure leads to the dismissal of staff, it gives rise, in addition to compensation in lieu of notice and compensation for dismissal, to the indemnities provided for in Articles L. 122-14-4 and L. 122-14-5 of the Employment Code in the event of breach of an employment contract. Failure to pay these indemnities is punishable by six months' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 3,750 (Art. L. 521-10, para. 3, IP Code).

The court may also impose additional penalties on individuals guilty of design infringement. It may order them to remove from commercial channels, at their own expense, the objects deemed to be infringing and anything used or intended for use in committing the offense, or order, at their own expense, the destruction or delivery to the injured party of the objects and things removed from commercial channels or confiscated, without prejudice to any right to damages, or the posting of the judgment or publication of the judgment pronouncing the sentence, under the conditions laid down in Article 131-35 of the Criminal Code (Art. L. 521-11 IP Code).

Legal entities declared criminally liable for offenses committed, on their behalf, by their bodies corporate or representatives, under the conditions set out in Article 121-2 of the French Criminal Code, are liable to a fine at a rate equal to five times that set for natural persons by the law penalizing the offense (Art. 131-38 Criminal Code). They may also receive the penalties provided for in Article 131-39 of the same code. Prohibition, on a permanent basis or for a maximum of five years, from exercising directly or indirectly one or more of the professional or social activities mentioned in 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. 521-12, 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 and 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 the award of damages (Art. L. 521-12, paras. 3 and 4, IP Code).

In the event of a repeat infringement, or if the offender is or has been bound by an agreement with the injured party, the penalties incurred are doubled. Offenders may also be deprived of the right to stand for election to the commercial courts, chambers of commerce and industry and the chambers of trade, as well as to labor courts for a period not exceeding five years (Art. L. 521-13 IP Code).

As soon as the offenses provided for in the first paragraph of Art. L. 521-10 have been established, the police may seize products manufactured, imported, held, offered for sale, delivered or supplied illegally, as well as equipment or instruments specially installed for such purposes (Art. L. 521-9 IP Code).

Industrial Property Law

523. Criminal sanction

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Les notions juridiques connexes

523. Criminal sanction

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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