New York State is set to increase the penalties for criminal trademark infringement starting November 1, 2014. The New York State Senate passed the bill this week.
The legislation serves to rework the penalty structure for trademark counterfeiting in order to provide penalties which are more commensurate with the severity of the offense. In particular, it would make a trademark counterfeiting operation which has a total retail value exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or which produces a total number of goods exceeding ten thousand a Class C Felony.
What is the penalty for a Class C Felony in New York? It is up to 15 years in prison with a minimum of one year.
Other amounts of total retail value of counterfeited goods see their penalties increased, also. For example, if the total retail value is twenty-five thousand dollars, it is a Class D Felony, which results up to 7 years in prison with a minimum of one year.