Yesterday a Danish court decided that is fake replicas can be confiscated even if the purchaser has broken no laws. This is somewhat controversial since not breaking the law seldom results in punishment.
The court however focused on the fact that the item in question – a replica Rolex – did infringe on Rolex IP and therefore the customs were allowed to confiscate it. The Court referred to the Council Regulation 1383/2003 concerning customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights. Here they said that article 10 and 16 prohibited the importation to Denmark. Article 16 states that “Goods found to infringe an intellectual property right at the end of the procedure provided for in Article 9 shall not be: – allowed to enter into the Community customs territory“.
The ruling seems to help the right holders a great deal since most of the cases regarding imported fakes involve consumers buying infringing goods online.
Even if it is odd that you as a consumer can lose a product you purchased legally, it would be equally odd to release the product which is obviously a fake. Of two evils choose the less evil. This could be a case for the Supreme Court.