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Are the high penalties for buyers of brand counterfeits in Italy proportionate, and how is the trade in plagiarisms tackled?

Montblanc Identifying fakes FAQ entry

Penalties of 10,000 euros for the purchase of single counterfeits are mostly criticised as disproportionate; pursuing the street vendors and commercial suppliers would be more sensible. Anyone who knowingly buys a plagiarism is generally not in the target group of the original brand anyway, so the maker hardly loses direct turnover; more problematic is the image damage from visible counterfeits in public spaces. More serious are sellers who offload plagiarisms at original prices to unsuspecting customers. On eBay a private report is legally insufficient, since only the trademark holder can have auctions ended via affidavit; eBay itself intervenes only hesitantly. Consistent exclusion of repeatedly conspicuous sellers by eBay is debated as a sensible solution.

Note: The fountainpen.de FAQ knowledge base is based on collector discussions from over 20 years. Specific market prices may be outdated — the underlying methodology remains valid. Back to FAQ overview ›

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