What Is the Definition of Counterfeiting? How It Is Recognized in Law

The International Trade Association defines counterfeiting as: the unauthorized use of a registered trademark on goods that are identical or similar to those associated with the original registered trademark.

In everyday life, people frequently engage in the buying and selling of a wide variety of goods—ranging from high-priced luxury items to affordable daily necessities such as food, clothing, housing, and entertainment.

One major concern is whether the products purchased might be counterfeit, pirated, or fake. Although counterfeit goods often resemble genuine products in appearance, the raw materials used are often problematic.

Dishonest manufacturers, motivated by profit, produce imitations using low-cost materials and sell them at significantly lower prices than authentic products.

Items such as clothing, shoes, watches, leather goods, jewelry, and pharmaceuticals often fall into this category.

The sources of the raw materials and the manufacturing processes of these counterfeit goods are unclear, leaving consumers with no recourse if problems arise after purchase.

When it comes to medicines or processed foods, counterfeit versions can pose serious health risks.

Furthermore, reselling counterfeit goods is illegal and could result in legal consequences.

Beyond the theft of technical features or design, counterfeiting often unfairly capitalizes on the efforts of original creators and research teams, causing harm to innovation and fairness.

Consumers should exercise caution and discernment when making purchases.

In addition to tangible goods, intangible assets such as knowledge, literature, creativity, and design are also vulnerable to counterfeiting or unauthorized use.

In such cases, it is considered a violation of intellectual property rights and, rather than mere counterfeiting, is more accurately described as plagiarism.

A Complete Legal Guide to Counterfeit Goods! Understand the Laws You Violate When Selling Counterfeit Products

Selling counterfeit goods can lead to not only civil liability but also criminal liability.

On the civil side, selling counterfeit products constitutes trademark infringement. According to Article 69 of the Trademark Act (Elimination of Infringement and Compensation for Damages), a trademark owner may demand the removal of the infringement and may also request preventive measures if there is a risk of infringement.

Additionally, under Article 70 of the Trademark Act, unauthorized use of a registered trademark is considered an infringement in the following three cases:

• Knowingly using a trademark identical or similar to another’s registered trademark (for example, using a reversed version of Nike’s swoosh logo).
• Knowingly using another’s registered trademark as part of the name of one’s own company or store (such as opening a fast-food restaurant named "McDangDang" resembling McDonald’s).
• Knowingly manufacturing, possessing, displaying, selling, exporting, or importing labels, tags, containers, or packaging that are not combined with goods or services but bear a trademark likely to cause confusion (for example, claiming a collaboration with a cartoon character without authorization on packaging).

All of these situations can easily mislead consumers, and any of them are deemed trademark infringement.

Furthermore, the Trademark Act addresses not only civil but also criminal liability.

Articles 95, 96, and 97 of the Trademark Act stipulate penalties. Importantly, trademark infringement is a prosecutable offense, meaning that even if the infringer reaches a settlement with the original company, legal proceedings must still be undertaken, and a criminal record may be left.

Therefore, it is critical to ensure that goods are genuine. Both merchants and manufacturers must be cautious and must not attempt shortcuts or engage in dishonest practices.

What Does Counterfeit Investigation Involve?

When trademarks, patents, intellectual property, inventions, or company products are counterfeited or infringed upon, leading to damage to reputation, business opportunities, assets, and other rights and interests, our company assists clients in collecting evidence to protect their rights and interests.