PARALLEL IMPORTS WITHOUT THE TRADEMARK OWNER'S AUTHORISATION

When cheap can turn out VERY EXPENSIVE.

Lately we have been astonished to see some companies irresponsibly and irregularly importing products from outside the European Economic Area. We say irregularly because they do so without the trademark owner's consent, an essential requirement to avoid infringing industrial property rights.
Besides exposing themselves and their customers to a costly lawsuit with the brand's official importer and/or the trademark owner, a case lost before it starts, they risk having the goods sealed and seized until the case ends, which is what will happen if a claim is filed. By the time the case is over, the goods will very probably have expired and will have to be destroyed, with the high costs that entails.

Cheap or expensive?

You decide.