經通國際智慧產權事務所

A resident, Mr. Xinxin Lin, of the Taoyuan County was caught by the police for selling a total of 3 counterfeited NOKIA mobile phones, which generated the said individual a profit of NTD40,500. The Intellectual Property Court (IPC) ordered Mr. Lin to a total of NTD 1.9 million plus the interest charges as the monetary compensation to Nokia and advertise an apologetic announcement in the newspaper. In addition, Mr. Lin also has to face criminal charges against his misdeed.

In April 2008, Mr. Lin purchased online three counterfeited NOKIA N95 8G mobile phones for a total of NTD16,500. The selling price of an authentic N95 8G mobile phone at that time was NTD25,000 each; though Mr. Lin had the counterfeited phones sold at NTD19,000 each. Soon after all the counterfeited phones were sold, Nokia, with the assistance from the police, was able to collect evidence on Mr. Lin’s misdeed and bring Mr. Lin to justice.

Mr. Lin had to face both criminal charges and civil lawsuit brought against him by Nokia. The monetary compensation demanded by Nokia was NTD9.5 million, which was 500 times the selling price of one counterfeited mobile phone, plus the interest charges. However, the Taoyuan District Court (Court) rejected Nokia’s demand because the Court felt that the demand was unreasonable. Instead, the Court ordered Mr. Lin to compensate Nokia’s loss by paying Nokia 100 times the selling price of one counterfeited mobile phone plus the interest charges. Nokia appealed the Court’s decision to the IPC and, at the same time, lowered its demand on the monetary compensation to NTD7.6 million plus the interest charges.

The IPC, on the other hand, supported the Court’s decision, and also demanded Mr. Lin to advertise this Decision in China Times newspaper as an apologetic announcement. The IPC’s Decision may be further appealed to the Supreme Court.

Even though Mr. Lin was able to make a profit of NTD40,500 within a relatively short period of time, the monetary compensation decided by the IPC in favor of Nokia and the criminal charges against him brought more harm than good. Those who are engaged in the buying and selling of counterfeited products should be aware of the lesson.

Source: www.chinatimes.com; 2010.03.11.

Organized and translated by James Tsai

International Affairs