EXPERT COMPETENCE IN FORENSIC EXPERT RESEARCH OF TRADEMARKS IN THE INVESTIGATION OF THEIR ILLEGAL USE

Abstract

Examples of judicial practice consider specifics of the special knowledge application in form of forensic examination of intellectual property while investigating of trademarks illegal use. This paper separately demonstrates issues of trademarks research including similarity to the degree of designation confusion with a trademark image as well as issues of economic researches in the field of intellectual property to establish the lost of profit due to violation of trademark rights. As a result of performed research it is established that limit of forensic experts competence in specialty 13.6 while criminal proceedings regarding infringement of trademarks is the establishment of full or partial identity of a trademark image with the detected designation on (name of display object) and the uniformity of goods and/or services. It is proved that similarity definition to the degree of mixing trademark image with the revealed designation is a legal issue and goes beyond the limits of the procedural and scientific competence forensic expert in the specialty 13.6. It was revealed that the definition of lost profit of a trademark owner while investigation of its illegal use as a expert task coincides with a task of the investigator to establish socially dangerous consequences as an element of objective side of a crime. It is indicated that all expert conclusions about determining of lost profit of a trademark owner as a result of its illegal use, are probable and conditional. Detection by an expert in specialty 13.9 of loss profit amount in categorical form, without specifying condition for replacement of original goods with counterfeit goods sold goes beyond its procedural and scientific competence.