Is the cream you bought real?
With the prosperity and development of the cosmetics market, there are also infringement and counterfeiting in the industry, and seven people have recently been prosecuted for the production and sale of "counterfeit beauty creams". On May 11, the People's Court of Tonghua County, Jilin Province held a public hearing of the case of suspected counterfeiting of registered trademarks and the crime of selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks.
In order to explain the law with cases and strengthen the popularization of the law, more than 30 media and platforms conducted live broadcasts of the trial, which were jointly produced by the Information Bureau of the Supreme People's Court, the "Trial Scene" column of the Social and Legal Channel of China Central Radio and Television, the Jilin Station of China Central Radio and Television, the Jilin High People's Court of Jilin Province, the Intermediate People's Court of Tonghua City, Jilin Province, and the People's Court of Tonghua County, Jilin Province.
Counterfeit old skin care products, counterfeiting gangs were doxxed
According to reports, in August 2022, the defendant Jiang Moujiang purchased counterfeit "Correction Brand Whitening and Spot Cream", "Correction Brand Anti-Wrinkle Cream" and "Correction Brand Multi-effect Firming and Repairing Eye Cream" from others, and sold them through Jiang and others on the online platform, with a sales amount of more than 2.06 million yuan.
Later, in order to obtain more illegal benefits, defendant Jiang Moujiang and Jiang Moujiang also cooperated with Jiang and others to manufacture and produce counterfeit "corrective anti-wrinkle cream" and other products, of which Cai and Ye were responsible for filling, labeling, and boxing; Ye is responsible for providing the den; Chen and Han were responsible for the production of glass bottles, packaging boxes, and anti-counterfeiting marks, and the seven defendants formed a one-stop counterfeiting gang that procured raw materials, filled, labeled, boxed, packaged, shipped, and sold, producing a total of 90,000 counterfeit registered trademark goods, with a total sales amount of more than 500,000 yuan.
During the trial, the prosecutor accused the defendants Jiang and Jiang of the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks and selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks, and accused Cai, Ye, Chen, and Han of five others of counterfeiting registered trademarks.
In this case, all seven defendants pleaded guilty and accepted punishment. The defender argued that Jiang and Jiang were brothers, and that there was still a mother in the family who was suffering from cerebral infarction and was paralyzed in bed and needed to be taken care of, and that it was because of the compulsion of life that they chose to take risks, which is different from the pursuit of a luxurious life and the satisfaction of pleasure and committing a crime, and suggested that the court consider the motives and criminal background of the two defendants as appropriate and give them a lighter punishment.
At the end of the trial, the court adjourned the trial, and the verdict was not pronounced in court.
What is the crime of counterfeiting a registered trademark? What is the crime of selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks
Article 213 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates the crime of "counterfeiting registered trademarks": without the permission of the owner of the registered trademark, the use of a trademark identical to the registered trademark on the same goods or services, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years and/or a fine; where the circumstances are especially serious, a sentence of between 3 and 10 years imprisonment and a concurrent fine is to be given.
Article 214 of the Criminal Law stipulates the "crime of selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks": Whoever sells goods that he knows to be counterfeit registered trademarks, and the amount of unlawful gains is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years and/or a fine; Where the amount of unlawful gains is huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, a sentence of between 3 and 10 years imprisonment and a concurrent fine is to be given.
Both offences fall within the scope of "infringement of intellectual property rights".
Regarding the difference between the crime of "counterfeiting a registered trademark" and the crime of "selling goods with a counterfeit registered trademark", in an interview after the trial, Shi Enyuan, the presiding judge of the case, told reporters that the former crime focused on "counterfeiting", while the latter focused on "selling".
In addition, during the live broadcast, Xiao Zhonghua, professor of the Law School of Chinese University, and Wang Xiaolei, host of the Central Radio and Television General Station, communicated with netizens online and answered questions from netizens. In response to the question raised by netizens whether some defendants need to bear criminal liability if they are only hired to participate in packaging, production and other acts, Xiao Zhonghua explained that the infringement of the exclusive right to use trademarks is often committed by a large number of people, gangs, each with its own division of labor, and joint crimes. Whether or not a joint crime is constituted needs to be evaluated as a whole, and it cannot be viewed separately because their conduct is only a part of it, and if each defendant subjectively has the intent to commit a joint crime and meets the other constitutive elements, they should also bear corresponding criminal responsibility.
Protect intellectual property rights and safeguard the rights and interests of consumers
In recent years, with the development of the "beauty economy", the scale of the mainland cosmetics market has continued to grow, which not only meets the needs of consumers, but also brings vitality to the development of the market. However, among them, all kinds of fake and shoddy cosmetics such as "high imitation", "A goods" and "real bottle refill" emerge in an endless stream, which not only infringes on the intellectual property rights of others, damages the reputation of others' goods, but also seriously infringes on the rights and interests of consumers and disrupts the market order.
The case reminds consumers that when shopping online, especially when shopping for cosmetics online, they must keep their eyes open, do not be too gullible in low-priced goods, try to choose regular stores for purchase, and if they find that they have purchased counterfeit and shoddy goods, they must defend their legitimate rights and interests through legitimate channels.
Zou Jingtao, a deputy to the Jilin Provincial People's Congress, and others attended the trial. Zou Jingtao said that this trial is not only a wake-up call for producers and operators, but also an encouragement, in the future production and operation process, to increase the protection of intellectual property rights, to prevent others from infringing on the rights and interests of enterprises. At the same time, it is also recommended that relevant departments strengthen market supervision and further create a business environment based on the rule of law.
Source: People's Court News Media Headquarters
编辑：Sharon