People v. Rosenthal

In People v. Rosenthal (NYLJ, Mar. 24, 2003, at 21, col 4), the court addressed the necessity of establishing a description of the genuine registered and counterfeit trademarks in an accusatory instrument. There, in two separately charged dockets, consolidated for decision on a facial sufficiency challenge to the trademark counterfeiting in the third degree charge, one defendant was alleged to have sold counterfeit Burburry bags and the other counterfeit Coach bags. The complaints described the difference between the quality of the genuine products and the counterfeit products, but did not identify and detail the actual trademark and the existence of an imitation trademark on the counterfeit merchandise. The court held that a sufficient complaint must establish that the alleged counterfeit trademark was identical or substantially indistinguishable from the genuine registered trademark. Thus, the failure to identify and detail the genuine and the imitation trademarks was fatal to both complaints.