20/10/2023 (Agence Europe) – In a ruling handed down on Thursday 19 October (Case C-655/21), the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a national provision which imposes a minimum penalty of five years’ imprisonment for repeated infringement of a trade mark or infringement which has significant adverse consequences is contrary to EU law. In its view, trademark infringement can be classified under national law as both an administrative offence and a criminal offence, with every citizen having to understand what behaviour gives rise to criminal liability. However, setting a minimum penalty of five years’ imprisonment for all offences involving the non-consensual economic use of a trademark does not satisfy the requirement of proportionality. See the judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/96q (MB)