What this means in practice
Online listings, direct messages, platform records, delivery data and payments may help identify commercial circulation, attribution and scale, but a profile or device artefact does not by itself establish authorship or criminal intent.
Infringement, border action and crime are not interchangeable
An unauthorised use may support civil or customs action without satisfying a criminal offence. Criminal analysis requires the precise protected right, conduct, scale or damage threshold, knowledge and role of each participant to be proved under the applicable current provision.
For Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales, the early priority is to separate criminal allegations from civil infringement and customs procedures. The first evidence review should include trademark registrations and authentic comparison samples and should be completed before assumptions harden into the case narrative.
Issues to assess early
Separate criminal allegations from civil infringement and customs procedures
Identify the protected right, accused conduct, knowledge, quantity and alleged damage
Preserve authentic comparison material, samples and supply-chain records
Distinguish manufacturer, importer, distributor, retailer, platform and brand-owner roles
Evidence that may matter
Evidence must be examined in context. Existence of a document, transfer, message or device artefact does not answer every question about authorship, knowledge, purpose, legality, completeness or reliability.
- Trademark registrations and authentic comparison samples
- Seized goods, packaging, labels and chain-of-custody records
- Invoices, customs declarations and transport documents
- Supplier, distributor, marketplace and payment records
- Technical, digital, accounting and product-authentication expertise
Potential Criminal Code provisions
The provisions below are a focused research map for online marketplace and social media sales, not a statement that any person has committed an offence. Each element, part, threshold and aggravating circumstance must be checked against the current Georgian text and the actual evidence.
Unlawful use of a trade or service mark
Not every infringement is criminal: the protected right, accused use, repetition or substantial damage and each participant's knowledge must be assessed.
Read full Article 196 text on this pageIllegal transportation or sale of forged goods
Requires proof that the goods were forged, that the accused transported or sold them and that the person knew their character.
Read full Article 197¹ text on this pageEncroachment upon copyright, related rights or database rights
Copyright and related-rights offences have their own protected-right, conduct and income tests and should not be treated as trademark counterfeiting.
Read full Article 189 text on this pageAn investigation may start under one article and later be narrowed, expanded or reclassified. New evidence, expert conclusions, the legally assessed consequence, a defence application, prosecutorial review or a court ruling may support a different provision, part or aggravating circumstance. The Georgian consolidated text controls; an English translation may lag.
Read the relevant provisions before the external source
The operative English text below is reproduced from the official consolidated Criminal Code of Georgia, publication 296, accessed 9 August 2026. Formatting has been normalised for on-screen reading; the current Georgian-language consolidated text controls if wording or timing differs.
Article 196Unlawful use of trade (service) marks or other commercial designations+
1. Illegal manufacturing or use of another person’s trade (service) marks, designations of origin or geographical indications in large quantities, as well as production or introduction into civil circulation of goods illegally marked with another person’s trade (service) marks, designation of origin or geographical indications or with the registered brand name, which has resulted in considerable damage, –
shall be punished by a fine or corrective labour for up to two years or by imprisonment for the same term.
2. False indication of a warning mark along with a non-registered trade (service) mark, designation of origin or geographical indication, –
shall be punished by a fine or community service from 120 to 180 hours and/or by corrective labour for up to one year or by imprisonment for a term of two to three years.
3. The act provided for by paragraph 1 or 2 of this article which has been committed:
a) repeatedly;
b) by a person convicted for this kind of offence;
c) by a group of persons with the preliminary agreement, –
shall be punished by a fine or by imprisonment for a term of three to five years.
Note: The illegal manufacturing of another person’s trade (service) mark, designation of origin or geographical indication of goods is considered to be in large quantities if their total quantity is over 1 000, and an offence shall be deemed to have resulted in considerable damage if the cost of the goods manufactured or introduced into civil circulation and illegally marked with another person’s trade (service) marks, designation of origin, geographical indication or registered brand name exceeds GEL 5 000.
Open Article 196 in the official consolidated Criminal Code↗︎Article 197¹Illegal transportation or sale of forged goods+
Illegal transportation or sale knowingly of the forged goods, –
shall be punished by a fine or corrective labour for up to two years, house arrest for a term of six months to two years, or by imprisonment for up to two years.
Open Article 197¹ in the official consolidated Criminal Code↗︎Article 189Encroachment upon the rights of a holder of copyright or related rights and upon the rights of database manufacturers+
1. Appropriation of authorship of a copyrighted work or coercion into co- authorship, –
shall be punished by a fine or corrective labour for up to two years.
2. The act provided for by paragraph 1 of this article committed repeatedly, –
shall be punished by house arrest for a term of six months to one year or by imprisonment for up to three years.
3. Reproduction or unauthorised purchase, import, storage, sale, rent, transfer of a work, audio or video recording or database and/or otherwise encroaching on the rights of a holder of the copyright, related rights or of the manufacturer of a database in violation of the Law of Georgia on Copyrights and Related Rights and committed to gain large income, –
shall be punished by a fine or by house arrest for a term of one to two years.
4. The act provided for by paragraph 3 of this article committed:
a) to gain particularly large income;
b) by a group of persons with preliminary agreement, –
shall be punished by imprisonment for up to three years.
Note:
1. The act provided for by this article shall be considered to have been committed to gain large income if the cost of the copies of the work, audio or video recording, or database or the income to be gained by the holder of the copyright, related rights or by the manufacturer of a database in the case of lawful use of his/her rights exceeds GEL 5 000, and shall be considered to have been committed to gain particularly large income if the above cost or income exceeds GEL 10 000.
2. For the acts specified in this article a legal person shall be punished by a fine, with deprivation of the right to carry out activities, or by liquidation and a fine.
Open Article 189 in the official consolidated Criminal Code↗︎How Georgian criminal law frames Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales
A useful legal analysis does not begin and end with the name of an offence. It identifies what must be proved, what remains disputed and which neighbouring legal route may better fit the established facts.
What must the evidence establish?
The case should be tested for the right protected in Georgia, accused use, commercial role, knowledge, quantity and any statutory repetition or damage threshold. A complaint, financial loss, injury, seized object or digital trace may justify investigation, but does not by itself prove every element.
Where is the legal boundary?
The material must distinguish criminal trademark conduct from civil infringement, customs detention, parallel import or a supply-chain mistake. Attempt, assistance, group activity, repetition and legally defined consequences may also alter the applicable article or part.
What evidence needs independent testing?
Priority material commonly includes registrations, genuine comparators, representative samples, customs files, invoices, marketplace data and authentication evidence. Reliability depends on lawful collection, completeness, provenance, authorship, chain of custody and a method capable of being challenged.
In a Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales matter, a device extraction or platform export may look decisive even though access, authorship, timestamps, completeness and chain of custody remain disputed.
The immediate decision is how to protect the record and prepare for rights and status verification without prejudicing the client’s procedural position. This is a fictional example for orientation, not a report of a client matter or an assumption of guilt.
How the process may develop
Not every matter reaches every stage, and several steps can overlap. Arrest, search, seizure, charging, restraint measures and court review each have their own legal basis. Current deadlines should be verified against the consolidated Criminal Procedure Code and the specific decision served in the case.
How defence counsel can assist
Criminal defence counsel can clarify status and rights, attend permitted investigative actions, review prosecution evidence, obtain lawful defence evidence, prepare motions and submissions, represent the client at restraint and trial hearings, negotiate only where instructed and appropriate, and coordinate appeals or international work.
An investigation or charge is not a conviction. Only a court may find a person guilty, and defence rights must remain practical and effective throughout the proceedings.
Frequently asked questions
Does Article 196 — Unlawful use of a trade or service mark — automatically apply to Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales?+
For Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales, Article 196, Article 197¹, Article 189 may provide a starting point, but a page title is not a legal qualification. Investigators and prosecutors must match proved facts to every element, part and aggravating circumstance. The qualification may be narrowed, expanded or changed after expert results, new evidence, a defence motion, prosecutorial review or a court decision. Not every infringement is criminal: the protected right, accused use, repetition or substantial damage and each participant's knowledge must be assessed.
Which factual boundary is decisive in a Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales case?+
In a Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales case, the evidence must distinguish criminal trademark conduct from civil infringement, customs detention, parallel import or a supply-chain mistake. That boundary is tested through the person's individual conduct, knowledge or intent, the legally classified consequence and every circumstance relied upon to move the allegation into a different article or aggravated part.
What evidence can prove—or undermine—the allegation of Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales?+
The focused record for Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales is not the same as for every offence. Priority material includes registrations, genuine comparators, representative samples, customs files, invoices, marketplace data and authentication evidence. The defence should test provenance, completeness, authorship, lawful collection, chain of custody and whether each item proves the disputed element rather than merely repeating the accusation.
Can the article or charge for Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales change after the investigation starts?+
Yes. For Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales, Article 196, Article 197¹, Article 189 may be a starting map, but expert results, quantity or value, injury classification, individual role, attempt or participation, a defence application, prosecutorial review or a court decision may support a different article, part or legal outcome.
What should be preserved immediately in a Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales matter?+
In a Online Marketplace and Social Media Sales matter, preserve the original chronology, procedural records and the topic-specific material before routine loss or alteration. Early advice is important because goods may be moved or destroyed and online listings can disappear; preservation must be lawful and must not involve hiding, changing or coordinating evidence.
Primary sources for this guide
Legislation can change and official English translations may lag the Georgian text. Check the current consolidated version and obtain advice before relying on a deadline, offence classification or remedy.
Criminal Code of Georgia↗︎Law of Georgia on Trademarks↗︎Law on Border Measures Related to Intellectual Property↗︎