Q: Please Help! Is this buyer able to charge me legally?
Unknowingly, I sold a non-authentic hoodie to a buyer for the price of an authentic hoodie. He messaged me after we met up for the transaction saying it was a fake. I agreed it was. He is demanding I return him the money.
However, do i have the right to refuse? Nowhere in my item description did I state the item was authentic (and even if i didnt state, I believed it was). He even took it out of the bag and checked the hoodie for himself during the meetup. He is threatening to call the police on me if I dont return him the money .. I really need the money and I dont want the hoodie. Please advice?
A:
The federal criminal laws that prohibit any person from trafficking in counterfeit goods and services apply not only to the counterfeiter—the law applies with equal force to any individual or company that knowingly sells a counterfeit product. The Act makes it illegal for any person to intentionally traffic, or attempt to traffic, in goods or services and knowingly use a counterfeit trademark on or in connection (such as product labeling and packaging) with those goods or services. The term “traffic” is broadly defined to include the sale of a product that bears a counterfeit trademark. Traffic also means transporting, transferring or otherwise disposing of a product for money or anything of value.
See 18 U.S.C. Section 2320
The maximum penalty for first-time offenders trafficking in counterfeit goods is 10 years in prison and a $2 million fine. For second-time offenders, the penalty is 20 years and a $5 million fine.
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