Thanks to the Chamber of Commerce’s immediate reaction, the other letters are prevented from being sent. However, 530 companies already paid the invoice to the cheating party (total amount of 79.000 Euros) and 1.255 companies paid directly to the Chamber of Commerce (186.995 Euros). In this lawsuit the suspects are condemned for fraud. Both the logo and the word KVK (abbreviation for the word Chamber of Commerce) are registered as trademarks. The mischievous use of a similar layout, colour and logo is punishable by law. Besides the use of the logo trademark is an infringement of copyright. Therefore the court ruled that an imprisonment of 24 months is suitable Because of the length of the procedure, the final judgement is 18 months.
Acquisition fraud is an immense problem for companies. Especially with the registration of trademarks and domain names. It’s time for a chance worldwide, in order to tackle this problem seriously. Therefore, everybody should directly report the receipt of a fake invoice or payment of the same to the national authorities, or contact teams dealing with this issue within ECTA, Marques and INTA. (SOurce image; Rechtspraak.nl)
