Canadian Enforcement

Counterfeit designer purses and the purse party is one part of a much bigger counterfeiting problem. With the arrival of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the need to get a handle on the illegal crossings of goods including counterfeit designer purses has increased in both Canada and Mexico.

In Canada, thwarting the flow of counterfeit designer purses has been made more difficult because of weak border rules and their hit-and-miss enforcement.  In fact, custom officials have little authority.  Why?  For one reason, to try and prosecute is timely, expensive and often not realistic. Then there are all the legal issues that crop up.

For example, only if the Royal Mounted Canadian Police (RCMP) investigates and gives the authority to seize goods is there is a chance for the intellectual property holder to receive justice and the thief to be prosecuted as a criminal.  The good news is that in recent years, there has been a growing cooperation between border customs officer and the RMCP along with a crackdown on the sale of fake designer purses sold at the purse party.

Let’s say on a particular case, the RMCP get a tip that fake Fendi bags are entering Canada and being sold in Ontario at a purse party. Then custom officers can seize goods at the border based on RMCP intelligence in investigation of criminal activities.

The RCMP and custom agents have been working together to train units in the regions of Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax in keeping an eye out for counterfeiters operating in their cities. But the border enforcement still falls short of being able to effectively control counterfeit goods coming into Canada. Most of the strength of the legal forces only applies to trade code and copyright violations. And as we have seen, designer handbags cannot be copyrighted as of yet.

In the article, Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Laws & Practices: A Case for Change by James Holloway, states, “In the luxury goods industry, which includes high-end watches and designer purses, counterfeiting costs billions of dollars in annual sales, continuing to pose a major challenge for luxury goods manufacturers.

In France alone, where many legitimate luxury goods are made, counterfeiting may result in as many as 38,000 lost jobs every year.  In an effort to combat the problem, luxury goods manufacturers spend millions of dollars every year running anti-counterfeiting programs. Still, most markets remain flooded with fake luxury goods including the designer purse.”

Canada’s Copyright Act states if anyone knowingly makes or sells a copy of a copyrighted work or knowingly imports it into Canada for sale or distribution; they may be guilty of a criminal offence and may be liable for conviction. And yes, that does include the purse party and fake designer purses.  But in order to convict someone for this, the law must show that person acted intentionally with the unmistakable knowledge they were infringing on that copyright and had specific intent to defraud or deceive the consumer.

For you, that means you would have to know the counterfeit designer purses you’re selling at your purse party are fakes. You’re doing it on purpose to make a buck. That isn’t an easy thing to prove. The burden is on the courts to prove the intention. A prosecution relating to someone who sold counterfeit NIKE, TOMMY HILFIGER and OAKLY products was acquitted because this could not be proved.  But don’t think you’ll get away with it forever.

But, if there’s proof the counterfeiter stated his fakes were the legitimate thing, the original designer has grounds for suing that counterfeiter for false advertising. The owner can then demand compensation for his loss in the marketplace as well as the destruction of all of the counterfeiter’s fakes.  The guy might not go to jail, but the designer can ruin him financially.

Now, just as in the United States, a trade mark owner in Canada has the exclusive right to register a trade-mark (or logo) so no one else can put that on their goods. Counterfeiters that do this can be prosecuted. So, if someone puts the Christian Dior logo on their counterfeit designer purse, there’s a good chance they can be prosecuted. Other sections of the Act state if an imposter even markets products with a trade mark that’s so similar that it’s confusing to the consumer they can be arrested.

There you have it, everything you should know about the legalities of accepting an invitation to a purse party. If you know the merchandise is fake don’t go!!!.