A Blackpool based business woman has been given a 4-month home detention curfew for selling illegal counterfeit goods. Aiva Sarapnicka was regularly selling counterfeit goods branded Adidas, Prada, Calvin Klein and Alexander McQueen, amongst others, at a car boot sale in Thornton Cleveleys. That was until an officer working for Trading Standards visited Sarapnicka’s stall back in May 2022. The officer purchased a counterfeit North Face t-shirt for £5 before returning to the stall to seize all of the 637 items Sarapnicka had for sale. 441 of the 637 items seized were declared fake. Sarapnicka claimed the goods were purchased from various suppliers in Turkey and she had done no research into the authenticity of the goods. Sarapnicka was able to show official documents, including receipts from Turkish suppliers and import tax invoices. She later pleaded guilty to 16 offences including possession of goods bearing a false trade mark. In addition to the home detention curfew, Sarapnicka was ordered to pay £595 in costs and the judge ordered the seized items to be destroyed. This case demonstrates the seriousness of selling counterfeit goods and the strict punishments offenders can be faced with. It also demonstrates that intellectual property rights, in particular trade marks, are vital tools in taking action against counterfeit goods. If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com. in: Case Law, Consumer Law, Legal News, News, Trade Marks
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