Interesting Law Find - Lawyers Please Respond - Re: Fed. Law on Fake Gold and Silver Goods
MsMorrisine
Posts: 36,011 ✭✭✭✭✭
here is a start.
the drawback is the date specified in this section: manufactured after June 13, 1907
but you could certainly go after them for fake pandas, eagles, etc!
15 USC § 294 - IMPORTATION OR TRANSPORTATION OF FALSELY MARKED GOLD OR SILVER WARE PROHIBITED
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association, being a manufacturer of or wholesale or retail dealer in gold or silver jewelry or gold ware, silver goods or silverware, or for any officer, manager, director, or agent of such firm, corporation, or association to import or export or cause to be imported into or exported from the United States for the purpose of selling or disposing of the same, or to deposit or cause to be deposited in the United States mails for transmission thereby, or to deliver or cause to be delivered to any common carrier for transportation from one State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, to any other State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or to said District, in interstate commerce, or to transport or cause to be transported from one State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or from the District of Columbia, to any other State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or to said District, in interstate commerce, any article of merchandise manufactured after June 13, 1907, and made in whole or in part of gold or silver, or any alloy of either of said metals, and having stamped, branded, engraved, or printed thereon, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which said article is incased or inclosed, any mark or word indicating or designed or intended to indicate that the gold or silver or alloy of either of said metals in such article is of a greater degree of fineness than the actual fineness or quality of such gold, silver, or alloy, according to the standards and subject to the qualifications set forth in sections 295 and 296 of this title.
PS, we need to have the law changed to include other metals.
the drawback is the date specified in this section: manufactured after June 13, 1907
but you could certainly go after them for fake pandas, eagles, etc!
15 USC § 294 - IMPORTATION OR TRANSPORTATION OF FALSELY MARKED GOLD OR SILVER WARE PROHIBITED
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association, being a manufacturer of or wholesale or retail dealer in gold or silver jewelry or gold ware, silver goods or silverware, or for any officer, manager, director, or agent of such firm, corporation, or association to import or export or cause to be imported into or exported from the United States for the purpose of selling or disposing of the same, or to deposit or cause to be deposited in the United States mails for transmission thereby, or to deliver or cause to be delivered to any common carrier for transportation from one State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, to any other State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or to said District, in interstate commerce, or to transport or cause to be transported from one State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or from the District of Columbia, to any other State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or to said District, in interstate commerce, any article of merchandise manufactured after June 13, 1907, and made in whole or in part of gold or silver, or any alloy of either of said metals, and having stamped, branded, engraved, or printed thereon, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which said article is incased or inclosed, any mark or word indicating or designed or intended to indicate that the gold or silver or alloy of either of said metals in such article is of a greater degree of fineness than the actual fineness or quality of such gold, silver, or alloy, according to the standards and subject to the qualifications set forth in sections 295 and 296 of this title.
PS, we need to have the law changed to include other metals.
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15 USC § 298 - VIOLATIONS OF LAW
(a) Criminal prosecutions; penalties; jurisdiction
Each and every person, firm, corporation, or association, being a manufacturer of or a wholesale or retail dealer in gold or silver jewelry, gold ware, silver goods, or silverware, who or which shall knowingly violate any of the provisions of sections 294 to 300 of this title, and every officer, manager, director, or managing agent of any such corporation or association having knowledge of such violation and directly participating in such violation or consenting thereto, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof in any court of the United States having jurisdiction of crimes within the district in which such violation was committed or through which has been conducted the transportation of the article in respect to which such violation has been committed, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than three months, or both, at the discretion of the court. Whenever the offense is begun in one jurisdiction and completed in another it may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined, and punished in either jurisdiction in the same manner as if the offense had been actually and wholly committed therein.
(b) Suits by competitors, customers, or subsequent purchasers for injunctive relief; damages and costs
Any competitor, customer, or competitor of a customer of any person in violation of section 294, 295, 296, or 297 of this title, or any subsequent purchaser of an article of merchandise which has been the subject of a violation of section 294, 295, 296, or 297 of this title, shall be entitled to injunctive relief restraining further violation of sections 294 to 300 of this title and may sue therefor in any district court of the United States in the district in which the defendant resides or has an agent, without respect to the amount in controversy, and shall recover damages and the cost of suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee.
(c) Suits by jewelry trade associations for injunctive relief; damages and costs
Any duly organized and existing jewelry trade association shall be entitled to injunctive relief restraining any person in violation of section 294, 295, 296, or 297 of this title from further violation of sections 294 to 300 of this title and may sue therefor as the real party in interest in any district court of the United States in the district in which the defendant resides or has an agent, without respect to the amount in controversy, and if successful shall recover the cost of suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee. If the court determines that the action has been brought frivolously, for purposes of harassment, or in implementation of any scheme in restraint of trade, it may award punitive damages to the defendant.
(d) Award of costs to defendant
Any defendant against whom a civil action is brought under the provisions of sections 294 to 300 of this title shall be entitled to recover the cost of defending the suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee, in the event such action is terminated without a finding by the court that such defendant is or has been in violation of sections 294 to 300 of this title.
(e) Jurisdiction of civil actions
The district courts shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of any civil action arising under the provisions of sections 294 to 300 of this title.
PS we need to change the law to any trade association
First the observation:
<< <i>It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association, being a manufacturer of or wholesale or retail dealer in gold or silver jewelry or gold ware, silver goods or silverware, or for any officer, manager, director, or agent of such firm, corporation, or association to import or export or cause to be imported into or exported from the United States for the purpose of selling or disposing of the same, or to deposit or cause to be deposited in the United States mails for transmission thereby, or to deliver or cause to be delivered to any common carrier for transportation from one State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, to any other State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or to said District, in interstate commerce, or to transport or cause to be transported from one State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or from the District of Columbia, to any other State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or to said District, in interstate commerce, any article of merchandise manufactured after June 13, 1907, and made in whole or in part of gold or silver, or any alloy of either of said metals, and having stamped, branded, engraved, or printed thereon, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which said article is incased or inclosed, any mark or word indicating or designed or intended to indicate that the gold or silver or alloy of either of said metals in such article is of a greater degree of fineness than the actual fineness or quality of such gold, silver, or alloy, according to the standards and subject to the qualifications set forth in sections 295 and 296 of this title. >>
That's one long sentence!
And the question: What's your point?
Oh, and I'm not a lawyer.....Mike
fake eagles, pandas, etc. with a fineness marked on or with them would be federal misdemeanors and also subject to civil action by even competitors in the market place with legal costs paid by the defendant.
PS trade dollars have a fineness on them, maybe the date could be changed for them??
Unfortunately, as we have seen multiples and multiples of times recently and in the past, there is an unwillingness of those in charge to enforce the laws; they look the other way and choose not to take any actions. Whether it be fake items from China, enforcing border laws, businesses abusing the law, manipulation of the silver market, (...you fill in your example here....)... on and on it goes.
Many laws are passed by local, state, national and international legislative bodies with full knowledge that they will never be enforced. Many times the laws are passed for no reason other than publicity, public relations and politics [politicians like to be able to say that they passed laws because it makes them look like they are actually doing something of value].
A great example is the federal government in the mid 1980's passing an Immigration Reform law that gave amnesty to 3,000,000 illegal aliens. I remember clearly the debate about the law. Those advocating its passage touted that it would be a "One Time Deal" and that after its passage the borders would be controlled to stop the flow if future illegal immigration. One of the center pieces of this control of the borders was that the government would aggressively pursue employers who hired illegals. For every illegal immigrant that was hired by an employer, the government would fine the employer $10,000.00 and bring criminal charges against the employer. This feature of the law was touted as the mechanism that would eliminate the economic incentive for illegals to enter the USA [they would find no work since employers would not want to risk fines and criminal charges].
The law passed in both houses of Congress and was signed by President Reagan. I understand that the provisions of the law imposing fines on employers and charging them criminally for hiring illegals has almost never been enforced.
longer enforced. Everything more complicated than animal instinct is sanctioned
by some law and even spitting on the street is illegal in thousands of places. It's
illegal to pronounce the name of Valporaiso, Indiana incorrectly. It's illegal to put
stop signs at railroad tracks.
Law isn't based on morality but expediency and at the current time the US govern-
ment considers the free flow of Mexicans and Chinese "silver" to be in the best in-
terests of the country so will do nothing to impede it. There are dozens of laws
that could be used against the fraudulent, immoral, and illegal flow of counterfeits
but they won't be used anytime soon. They'll probably pass a new law so as not
to impede the importation of other fraudulent, immoral, and illegal material if and
when it is no longer expedient to allow Chinese fakes into the country or the fraud-
ulent trade in this material. So long as the "right" people make money nothing can
be illegal.
Coin doctors changed all that.
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