Just as an update to this and as a warning to other recasters. There has been a lot of background work involved in getting to this stage and we have managed to get this person off Ebay for the time being and preventing him from selling further recast goods. We started proceedings in mid-September after being alerted of the full identity by another manufacturer. This is regarding Hungarian Ebay recaster "foxbat.25" with the shop "cooganexpress16". His full name is Attila Kiss. We followed up with Ebay to ensure that the counterfeit items were removed from his shop. Ebay removed a few but it was only after we bought a counterfeit kit as evidence and we advised him that he had been reported to the Hungarian authorities that he actually removed all items from his Ebay shop. We contacted the Hungarian Police, Hungarian Tax Office and the Hungarian International Trade office. We received replies from all of these Hungarian national authorities and they have been conducting investigations since then on this person. Today we received this latest update from the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office as follows:
"Your letter concerning illegal operations of a Hungarian citizen was forwarded to the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO). With reference to your complaint, allow me to provide you the following information.
Several enforcement procedures are available under the Hungarian law so as to permit effective action against any act of infringement of IP rights, such as:
- civil,
- criminal,
- customs procedures.
According to the IP legislation any person who unlawfully exploits/uses an IP right commits infringement. The right holder may, according to the circumstances of the case, have recourse to the following civil remedies:
- the fact of infringement be declared by the court;
- injunction;
- demanding that the infringer give information on the identity of persons involved in the production and distribution of the infringing goods;
- demanding satisfaction from the infringer by way of a declaration or by other appropriate means (made public if necessary);
- requiring surrender of the enrichment obtained by the infringement;
- seizure, transfer, definitive removal from the channels of commerce, destruction;
- damages under the rules of civil liability.
The Budapest-Capital Regional Court has exclusive competence in litigation concerning the infringement.
In case of IPR infringement criminal sanctions may also be applied against the infringers.
Act C of 2012 on Criminal Code contains the statutory definition of offences when criminal enforcement may be claimed:
- infringement of copyright and certain related rights
- infringement of industrial property rights.
In these cases the National Tax and Customs Administration (NTCA) shall conduct the investigation. The prosecution may be initiated before this authority (http://en.nav.gov.hu/). If you would like to take action against the person infringing your IP rights, please contact the NTCA.
I hope you will find this information helpful. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me."
We have taken it this far but now the IP owners/manufacturers can follow up further by taking one or more of the steps listed above.
For recasters based in the UK, we will follow up with Trading Standards and fines are substantial. It may take some time but we will get results.
Thank you for your time. Should anyone have questions or any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Regards,
Matt and Celine
