Spanish Appeal Court Decision Drops Long-Held 'Consumer's Error' Theory

摘要

In a criminal case, Section 2 of the Tarragona Court of Appeal has recently rendered a ruling which suggests a radical turn away from its existing line of jurisprudence on the "consumer's error theory". The ruling is the outcome of an appeal filed against a decision by the Criminal Court No. 2 of Valls which ordered the provisional discontinuance and shelving of proceedings on the grounds that the seized products -despite infringing the intellectual property rights of several well-known trademarks holders (for the reproduction of these trademarks without the holders' consent) - did not mislead consumers about their authenticity. The reasons included the inferior quality of the unauthorized, infringing products compared to the quality of the genuine products, their lower price and the fact of the seized goods being intended for street vending or flea markets.