What's happening
This bill creates stricter penalties and new degrees for trademark counterfeiting, lowering value thresholds and adding quantity-based criteria.
Why it matters
Introduces a new "first degree" trademark counterfeiting felony. , creating steeper penalties (class C felony) for cases involving either high retail value (over $100,000) or large quantities (over 10,000 items), reflecting a focus on major, high-volume offenders.
Lowers monetary thresholds for felony charges. , meaning that individuals can be prosecuted for more serious offenses at lower levels of alleged counterfeiting activity (e.g., “second degree” now starts at $25,000 or 2,000 items, instead of $100,000).
Adds quantity-based criteria (number of items) for charging felonies. , allowing prosecutors to pursue higher-degree charges not just based on value but also on the amount of counterfeit goods, which can target operations distributing large volumes of lower-priced items.
Renames and reorders existing degrees of counterfeiting crimes. , ensuring that penalties are more closely matched to the scale and severity of the counterfeiting operation, potentially expanding the pool of cases eligible for felony prosecution and increasing deterrence.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Tougher Penalties for Counterfeits
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
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History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Tougher Counterfeit Penalties
In Assembly Committee · Codes · Sponsor Dan Quart
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
597
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to trademark counterfeiting
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 165.71 of the penal law, as added by chapter 490 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows: § 165.71 Trademark counterfeiting in the [third] fourth degree.
A person is guilty of trademark counterfeiting in the [third] fourth degree when, with the intent to deceive or defraud some other person or with the intent to evade a lawful restriction on the sale, resale, offering for sale, or distribution of goods, he or she manufactures, distributes, sells, or offers for sale goods which bear a counterfeit trademark, or possesses a trademark knowing it to be counterfeit for the purpose of affixing it to any goods.
Trademark counterfeiting in the [third] fourth degree is a class A misdemeanor.
§ 2. Section 165.72 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 535 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows: § 165.72 Trademark counterfeiting in the [second] third degree.
A person is guilty of trademark counterfeiting in the [second] third degree when, with the intent to deceive or defraud some other person or with the intent to evade a lawful restriction on the sale, resale, offering for sale, or distribution of goods, he or she manufactures, distributes, sells, or offers for sale goods which bear a counterfeit trademark, or possesses a trademark knowing it to be counterfeit for the purpose of affixing it to any goods, and the retail value of all such goods bearing or intended to bear counterfeit trademarks exceeds one thousand dollars or the total numbers of all such goods bearing counterfeit trademarks exceeds two hundred.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01153-01-9
S. 597 2
Trademark counterfeiting in the [second] third degree is a class E felony.
§ 3. Section 165.73 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 535 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows: § 165.73 Trademark counterfeiting in the [first] second degree.
A person is guilty of trademark counterfeiting in the [first] second degree when, with the intent to deceive or defraud some other person, or with the intent to evade a lawful restriction on the sale, resale, offering for sale, or distribution of goods, he or she manufactures, distributes, sells, or offers for sale goods which bear a counterfeit trademark, or possesses a trademark knowing it to be counterfeit for the purpose of affixing it to any goods, and the retail value of all such goods bearing or intended to bear counterfeit trademarks exceeds [one hundred thousand dollars] twenty-five thousand dollars or the total numbers of all such goods bearing counterfeit trademarks exceeds two thousand.
Trademark counterfeiting in the [first] second degree is a class [C] D felony.
§ 4. Section 165.74 of the penal law is renumbered section 165.75 and a new section 165.74 is added to read as follows: § 165.74 Trademark counterfeiting in the first degree.
A person is guilty of trademark counterfeiting in the first degree when, with the intent to deceive or defraud some other person, or with the intent to evade a lawful restriction on the sale, resale, offering for sale, or distribution of goods, he or she manufactures, distributes, sells, or offers for sale goods which bear a counterfeit trademark, or possesses a trademark knowing it to be counterfeit for the purpose of affixing it to any goods, and the retail value of all such goods bearing or intended to bear counterfeit trademarks exceeds one hundred thousand dollars or the total numbers of all such goods bearing counterfeit trademarks exceeds ten thousand.
Trademark counterfeiting in the first degree is a class C felony.
§ 5. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to trade- mark counterfeiting
Purpose or general idea of bill
Establishes a new crime of trademark counterfeiting in the fourth degree, and amends the definition and penalty structure for the exi sting three degrees of trademark counterfeiting. The bill's main aim is to impose a harsher penalty for those who commit trademark co unterfeit- ing in a value in excess of ten thousand dollars.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 amends section 165.71 of the penal law to change trademark counterfeiting in the third degree to trademark counterfeiting i n the fourth degree, and establishes that trademark counterfeiting in the fourth degree shall be a class A misdemeanor.
Read the full memo (729 words)
Section 2 amends section 165.72 of the penal law to change trademark counterfeiting in the second degree to trademark counterfeiting in the third degree. It provides that a person is guilty of trademark counter- feiting in the third degree if the retail value of all c ounterfeit goods manufactured, distributed, sold, or offered for sale by this person exceeds one thousand dollars or the total number of all counter- feit goods exceeds two hundred. It also establishes that trademark coun- terfeiting in the third degree shall be a class E felony.
Section 3 amends section 165.73 of the penal law to change trademark counterfeiting in the first degree to trademark counterfeiting i n the second degree. It provides that a person is guilty of trademark counter- feiting in the third degree if the retail value of all c ounterfeit goods manufactured, distributed, sold, or offered for sale by this person exceeds twenty-five thousand dollars or if the t otal number of all counterfeit goods exceeds two thousand. It also establishes that trademark counterfeiting in the second degree sha ll be a class D felo- ny.
Section 4 renumbers section 165.74 to 165.75, and adds a new section 165.74 which establishes a new definition of trademark counterfe iting in the first degree. It establishes that a person is guilty of trademark counterfeiting in the first degree if the retail value of all counter- feit goods manufactured, distributed, sold, or offered for sale by this person exceeds one hundred thousand dollars or the total number of all counterfeit goods exceeds ten thousand. It also establishes that trade- mark counterfeiting in the first degre e shall be a class C felony.
Section 5 provides that the act shall take effect on the first of Novem- ber next succeeding the date on which it shall have become law
Justification
Trademark counterfeiting is a serious issue both in New York State and around the globe, especially when conducted on a large scale. According to a report released by the New York State White Collar Crime Task Force, "Trademark counterfeit goods may account for as m uch as seven percent of all world trade, or up to $650 billion in sales per year. New York City estimates that it loses more than $1 billion per year in revenue based upon the sale of counterfeit goods." The White Collar Crime Task Force report also notes that the s ale of goods bearing coun- terfeit trademarks is a known revenue stream for many terrorist organ- izations, due to the fact that profit m argins are higher and risks are lower than trafficking narcotics. This loss of revenue to New York State businesses and potential pub lic safety hazard is extremely concerning, and reveals an area of law enforcement in dire need of legislative reform.
This legislation serves to rework the penalty structure for trademark counterfeiting in order to provide penalties which are more com mensu- rate with the severity of the offense. In particular, it would make a trademark counterfeiting operation which has a total retai l value exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or which produces a total number of goods exceeding ten thousand a class C felony.
Prior legislative history
5.0113 of 2017-2018 (Hoylman): Passed Senate (2017) / Died in Codes (2018)
A.3946 of 2017-2018 (Quart): Died in Codes
S.110 of 2015-2016 (Hoylman): Passed Senate (2015)/Died in Codes (2016) A.10642 of 2016 (Quart): Died in Codes
S.7541 of 2014 (Hoylman): Passed Senate
Fiscal implications
None to the state.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.