UK Supreme Court holds that grey market sales can be criminal offence
A grey market Can grey markets be considered akin to trade in counterfeit goods, at least when it comes to the application of criminal provisions in trade mark law? The UK Supreme Court answered this question in the affirmative earlier this week in its judgment in R v M & Ors [2017] UKSC 58 . Issued in the context of an interlocutory appeal in criminal proceedings, this ruling concerned the proper construction of section 92(1) of the UK Trade Marks Act 1994. This provision states that: " (1) A person commits an offence who with a view to gain for himself or another, or with intent to cause loss to another, and without the consent of the proprietor— (a)applies to goods or their packaging a sign identical to, or likely to be mistaken for, a registered trade mark, or (b)sells or lets for hire, offers or exposes for sale or hire or distributes goods which bear, or the packaging of which bears, such a sign...