Request for a preliminary ruling from the Rayonen sad Lukovit (Bulgaria) lodged on 6 September 2023 – Criminal proceedings against IC
(Case C-558/23, Dramanova 1 )
Language of the case: Bulgarian
Referring court
Rayonen sad Lukovit
Parties to the main proceedings
Rayonna prokuratura Lovech, Teritorialno otdelenie grad Lukovit, Bulgaria
IC
Questions referred
Does the principle of proportionality permit a national legal provision, such as Article 172b of the Nakazatelen kodeks (Criminal Code), which provides for a custodial sentence of one to six years and a fine for a first infringement of intellectual property rights, irrespective of whether the unlawful use of a protected trade mark is wilful and/or on a commercial scale?
If the first question is answered in the negative, how are the expressions ‘wilful’ and ‘on a commercial scale’, used in Article 61 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement), to be interpreted?
Do the principles of legality and the prohibition of the arbitrary application of the law permit national legislation which simultaneously provides for liability under both administrative law (Article 127 of the Zakon za markite i geografskite oznachenia (Law on trade marks and geographical designations)) and criminal law (Article 172b of the Criminal Code), without laying down clear criteria allowing the degree of danger to the general public posed by one and the same act (unlawful use of protected trade marks) to be objectively and predictably assessed?
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1 The name of the present case is a fictitious name. It does not correspond to the real name of any party to the proceedings.