Detectives of the Territorial Department ESBU in Zakarpattia region have completed a pre-trial investigation into the illegal use of trademarks owned by a well-known Italian coffee producer.

It has been established that during 2021-2022, a group of people purchased and subsequently sold counterfeit coffee products with counterfeit trademarks on them.

The counterfeit products were sold wholesale and retail via the Internet and in the Mukachevo market. The citizens had no agreements or licenses to use the trademark.

As previously reported law enforcement officers seized more than 5,000 packs of coffee beans weighing about 5 tons as a result of the searches. Subsequently, after an examination, the manufacturing company confirmed that all the products were counterfeit. Thus, the foreign company which registered its trademark in Ukraine and has international registration, suffered material damage totaling almost UAH 3.5 million.

Persons have been notified of the suspicion of committing a criminal offense provided for in Part 3 of Art. 229 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal use of a mark for goods and services, trade name, qualified indication of the origin of goods). The illegal sale of products has been stopped, the materials have been referred to the court.

The pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings was carried out by detectives of the Territorial Department ESBU in Zakarpattia region under the operational support of employees of the Cybercrime countermeasures department in Zakarpattia region of the Cyberpolice department of the National Police of Ukraine and the procedural leadership of the Zakarpattia region Prosecutor's office.