The most common crimes against intellectual property are usually the counterfeiting of trademarks and piracy of works protected by copyright.
Punishable conducts in Law No. 19,039 on Industrial Property related to commercial trademarks, geographical indications, and appellations of origin
1.1 Penalties related to commercial trademarks
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Anyone who with ill intent and for commercial purposes, uses a mark identical or similar to another already registered for the same products or services or establishments, or in relation to products, services or establishments related to those covered by the registered mark, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 19bis E. | 28 a) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
| Anyone who, for commercial purposes, uses an unregistered, lapsed or invalidated mark in a manner indicating that it is a registered mark or imitating a registered mark. | 28 b) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
| Anyone who, for commercial purposes, uses containers or packaging bearing a registered mark, without the right to use that mark, without having first previously erased it, except where the packaging so marked is intended to contain products of a type different from that protected by the mark. | 28 c) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
1.2 Punishable conducts related to geographical indications and appellations of origin
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Any person who with ill intent designates a product of the same type as those protected by a registered geographical indication or appellation of origin without the right to do so. | 105 c) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
| Any person who uses, for commercial purposes, the indications corresponding to a geographical indication or appellation of origin that is not registered, has lapsed or has been invalidated or that simulates them. | 105 b) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
| Any person who makes use, for commercial purposes, of containers or packages that bear a registered geographical indication or appellation of origin without the right to use it and without having it previously erased, unless the marked package is intended to contain different goods unrelated to those protected by the geographical indication or appellation of origin. | 105 c) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
1.3 Punishable conducts in Law No. 18.455 related to counterfeit alcoholic products and appellations of origin
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Any person who produces o sells counterfeit products that are not toxic or harmful. | 45 1) | 1 - 150 UTM fine |
| Any person who uses appellations of origin in violation of the provisions of Articles 27, final subparagraph, 28, and 30. | 45 3) | 1 - 150 UTM fine |
Punishable conducts in Law No. 19.039 related to invention patents
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Any person who with ill intent manufactures, uses, offers or introduces to the market, imports or is in possession of a patented invention, for commercial purposes, notwithstanding the provisions of the fifth subparagraph of Article 49. | 52 a) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
| Any person who, for commercial purposes, uses an object which is not patented or whose patent has lapsed or has been invalidated, using on such object indications corresponding to a patent or simulating such indication. | 52 b) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
| Any person who with ill intent uses a patented procedure for commercial purposes. | 52 c) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
| Any person who with ill intent imitates or uses an invention, the patent application for which is pending, unless the patent is finally not granted. | 52 d) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
Punishable conducts in Law No. 19.039 related to utility models
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Any person who with ill intent manufactures, markets, imports or uses, for commercial purposes, a registered utility model, notwithstanding the exception established the fifth subparagraph of Article 49, which shall also apply to this category of rights. | 61 a) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
| Any person who, for commercial purposes, uses the indications corresponding to a utility model whose registration has lapsed or has been invalidated, and any person who, for commercial purposes, simulates an indication where there is no registration. | 61 b) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
Punishable conducts in Law No. 19.039 related to industrial designs and drawings
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Any person who with ill intent manufactures, markets, imports or uses, for commercial purposes, a registered industrial design, without prejudice to the provisions of the fifth subparagraph of Article 49, which shall also apply to this category of rights. | 67 a) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
| Any person who, for commercial purposes, uses indications corresponding to a registered industrial design or simulates such indications where said registration does not exist or has lapsed or been cancelled. | 67 b) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
Punishable conducts in Law No. 19.039 related to layout designs or topographies of integrated circuits
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Anyone who with ill intent manufactures, markets, imports or uses, for commercial purposes, a registered layout design (topography) of integrated circuits, without prejudice to the exception set out in the fifth subparagraph of Article 49, which shall also apply to layout designs. | 85 a) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
| Anyone who, for commercial purposes, makes unauthorized use of information corresponding to a registered layout design (topography) of integrated circuits whose registration has expired or been cancelled, and anyone who, for the same purposes, simulates such information where there is no registration or the registration has lapsed or been cancelled. | 85 b) | 25 - 1.000 UTM fine |
Crimes against industrial secrets and confidential information
6.1 Criminal code, crimes against industrial secrets
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Any person who fraudulently communicates secrets of the factory in which they have been or are employed. | 284 | Minimum to medium term imprisonment or a fine of 11 - 20 UTM. |
6.2 Criminal code, public official crimes
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Any person who deprives another of the exclusive property of their discovery or creation, or divulges the secrets of an invention, having had access to it due to their employment. | 158 5) | Minimum to medium term suspension, should the official have received remuneration, and minimum to medium term imprisonment or a fine of 11 - 20 UTM, should they have provided services free of charge |
| Anyone who, due to their employment knows private information of an individual and makes it known, thus causing the individual damages. | 247 | Minimum to medium term imprisonment and a fine of 6 - 10 UTM |
| Anyone who uses a secret or specific classified information that they know through their employment in order to obtain an economic benefit for themselves or for a third party. | 247 bis) | Minimum to medium term imprisonment and a fine totalling three times the benefit obtained |
6.3 Criminal code, professional crimes
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Anyone who places on manufactured objects the name of a manufacturer who did not manufacture said objects, or the business name of a factory that did not manufacture said objects. Any merchant, commission agent, or salesperson who knowingly offers for sale or circulates objects with counterfeit or altered names. | 190 | Minimum to medium term imprisonment and a fine of 6 - 10 UTM. |
| Anyone who, practicing a profession requiring a professional degree, reveals secrets having been confided in them due to said profession. | 247 inc 2 | Minimum to medium term imprisonment and a fine of 6 - 10 UTM. |
Conduct infringing copyright and related rights
5.1 Punishable conduct in Law No. 17,336 on Intellectual Property
Anyone who, for personal gain, manufactures, imports or admits into the country, holds or acquires for commercial distribution the copies referred to in the previous subparagraph.| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Anyone who, without being expressly authorized to do so, uses works owned by another that are protected by this Law, either unpublished or published, in any of the forms or by any of the means provided for in Article 18. | 79 a) | Alternative or jointly applicable punishments, contemplating minimum term imprisonment in any of its severities and fines between 5 - 1000 UTM, depending on the amount of the injury |
| Anyone who, without being expressly authorized to do so, uses the protected performances, productions or broadcasts of the holders of the related rights, for any of the purposes or by any of the means provided for under Title II. | 79 b) | Alternative or jointly applicable punishments, contemplating minimum term imprisonment in any of its severities and fines between 5 - 1000 UTM, depending on the amount of the injury |
| Anyone who falsifies or doctors a playlist. | 79 c) | Alternative or jointly applicable punishments, contemplating minimum term imprisonment in any of its severities and fines between 5 - 1000 UTM, depending on the amount of the injury |
| Anyone who falsifies data on the rendering of accounts referred to in Article 50. | 79 d) | Alternative or jointly applicable punishments, contemplating minimum term imprisonment in any of its severities and fines between 5 - 1000 UTM, depending on the amount of the injury |
| Anyone who, without the consent of the rights holder or the law, collects royalty payments or grants licenses in respect of works or performances or phonograms that are protected. | 79 e) | Alternative or jointly applicable punishments, contemplating minimum term imprisonment in any of its severities and fines between 5 - 1000 UTM, depending on the amount of the injury |
| Anyone who falsifies a work protected by this Law, or who publishes, reproduces or distributes in a patently false manner the name of the authorized publisher, deleting or altering the name of the author or the title of the work, or maliciously altering the text thereof. | 79 bis | Minimum term imprisonment and a fine of 10 - 1000 UTM |
| Anyone who knowingly reproduces, distributes, makes available or communicates to the public a work belonging to the public domain or to the common cultural heritage under a name which is not that of the true author. | 80 a) | Fine of 25 - 500 UTM |
| Anyone who claims or demands economic rights in works in the public domain or of the common cultural heritage. | 80 b) | Fine of 25 - 500 UTM |
| Anyone who requires payment for the performance or communication to the public of protected works and omits to prepare the respective playlists. | 80 c) | Fine of 25 - 500 UTM |
| Anyone who holds to market, markets or rents directly to the public copies of works, performances or phonograms, regardless of the medium, which have been reproduced in breach of the provisions of this Law. | 81 subparagraph 1 | Minimum term imprisonment and a fine of 50 - 800 UTM |
| 81 subparagraph 2 | Medium to maximum term imprisonment and a fine of 100 - 1000 UTM | |
| Anyone who deletes or alters any rights management information. | 84 a) | Fine of 25 - 150 UTM |
| Anyone who distributes, imports for distribution, issues, communicates or makes available to the public copies of works or phonograms, knowing that information on rights management has been deleted or altered without authorization. | 84 b) | Fine of 25 - 150 UTM |
| Anyone who distributes or imports for distribution rights management information, knowing that the rights management information has been altered without authorization. | 84 c) | Fine of 25 - 150 UTM |
5.2 Punishable conducts in Law No. 19,227 on Books and Reading Promotion
| Conduct | Article | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Anyone who knowingly commercializes fraudulently edited or printed books or books that have been reproduced without authorization of the copyright titleholder. | 11 a) (refers to penalties covered by Article 79 of Law No. 17,336) | Alternative or jointly applicable punishments, contemplating minimum term imprisonment in any of its severities and fines between 5 - 1000 UTM, depending on the amount of the injury |
| Anyone who uses deceptive or fraudulent procedures to wrongly access the benefits granted by this law. | 11 b) (refers to penalties covered by Article 79 of Law No. 17,336) | Alternative or jointly applicable punishments, contemplating minimum term imprisonment in any of its severities and fines between 5 - 1000 UTM, depending on the amount of the injury |
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