Counterfeiting Registered Trademarks

(Adopted at the 30th Session of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on February 22, 1993)

In order to punish such criminal acts as to counterfeit registered trademarks, the following supplementary provisions shall be made and added to the Criminal Law:

Where any person uses, without the authorization of the proprietor of a registered trademark, a trademark that is identical with the registered trademark in question in respect of the same goods, and the amount of his illegal income is considerable or he has committed other serious acts, he shall be sentenced to fixed term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, or sentenced concurrently or exclusively to a fine; where the amount of his illegal income is enormous, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and concurrently to a fine.

Where any person sells goods that he knows bear a counterfeited registered trademark, and the amount of his illegal income is considerable, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, or sentenced concurrently or exclusively to a fine; where the amount of his illegal income is enormous, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and concurrently to a fine.

Where any person counterfeits, or makes, without authorization, representations of a registered trademark of another person, or sells such representations of a registered trademark as were counterfeited, or made without authorization, and the amount of his illegal income is considerable or he has committed other serious acts, he shall be punished according to the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 1 above.

Where any enterprise or institution has committed any of such crimes as enumerated in the preceding two articles, it shall be sentenced to a fine, and the person in charge who is directly responsible and any other persons who are directly responsible shall be prosecuted, according to the provisions of the preceding two articles, for their criminal liabilities.

Where any functionary of the State exploits his office to intentionally harbor any enterprise, institution or individual that he knows to be guilty of any of such criminal acts as enumerated in these Provisions and make it or him to escape being prosecuted, he shall be prosecuted, mutatis mutandis under the provisions of Article 188 of the Criminal Law, for his criminal liabilities.

Where any functionary of the State who is responsible for prosecuting such criminals as enumerated in these Provisions fails to perform his functions of prosecution as prescribed by law, he shall be prosecuted, according to the provisions of Article 187 of the Criminal Law or mutatis mutandis under the provisions of Article 188 of the Criminal Law, for his criminal liabilities.

These Provisions shall enter into force on July 1, 1993.