The Causes and Consequences of Crimes Involving Intellectual Property Rights

It is no coincidence that collaborations between national institutions like the Bulgarian Patent Office and the Bulgarian Intellectual Property Office, supranational organizations such as EUIPO and EUROPOL, and even anti-counterfeiting initiatives showcased at global fashion events like Fashion Week, have become increasingly common.

Crimes involving intellectual property rights (IPR) encompass the theft, infringement, and unauthorized use of intellectual property, including copyrights, industrial designs, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets. The most frequent violations are:

Counterfeiting: The production, import, distribution, storage, and sale of goods misleadingly presented under a trademark without the consent of its owner or authorized user.
Piracy: The unauthorized copying, use, reproduction, and distribution of materials protected by intellectual property rights.

Both of these acts are criminalized under national legislation (within the Criminal Code), and our legal system is among the few that also employs administrative-criminal liability for minor offenses. However, violations and crimes related to IPR are on the rise because:

They capitalize on consumer demand for low-cost goods and services, exploiting this behavior as a key driver.

Perpetrators benefit from consumers’ lack of awareness (information blackout) and the overwhelming availability of information (information overload).

These factors cause significant harm to key economic and healthcare sectors. IPR violations not only disrupt smaller transactions, such as the sale of counterfeit clothing, but also jeopardize public health, food safety, and the exchange of goods and services on an industrial scale. Such activities undermine national and EU economies, resulting in large-scale financial and reputational losses for the rights holders.

To mitigate the risks of IPR-related crimes, our team advises implementing preventive measures, such as: