---
title: "Counterfeit Defense"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/intellectual-property-law-en/counterfeit-defense-en"
field: "Intellectual Property Law"
description: "Falsification charges and penalties in Georgian criminal law: parts, aggravating features and defence grounds. Legal.ge."
reviewed: "2026-07-09"
updated: "2026-11-07"
publisher: "legal.ge"
---

# Counterfeit Defense

> Source: legal.ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/intellectual-property-law-en/counterfeit-defense-en

## What Falsification Means under Criminal Law

Falsification, as defined in the criminal legislation of Georgia, is the deceptive alteration of the quality of an item by the producer or the recipient, committed for gain. The pursuit of profit or other material benefit distinguishes this offence from ordinary breaches of quality standards, and it is exactly this element that the prosecution must establish beyond reasonable doubt. If an accusation under this norm has been raised against you in connection with counterfeit products, which conduct is being attributed to you must be established precisely.

## The Basic Offence and Its Punishment

Falsification committed for gain is punishable by a fine or corrective labour for a term of up to two years, house arrest for a term from six months to two years, or imprisonment for a term from one to three years, with deprivation of the right to hold an official position or to carry out activity for a term of up to three years or without it. This means that even under the basic composition the court may impose a custodial sentence, although the sanction also allows the punishment to be limited to a measure of a proprietary character.

## Aggravated Compositions and Their Penalties

The same act committed repeatedly is punishable by imprisonment for a term from three to five years, with deprivation of the right to hold an official position or to carry out activity for a term of up to three years. If the act provided for by the first or the second part could have endangered human life or health, it is punishable by imprisonment for a term from five to seven years, with deprivation of the right to hold an official position or to carry out activity for a term of up to three years. And where such an act entailed the death of a person or another grave consequence, it is punishable by imprisonment for a term from seven to ten years, with deprivation of the right to hold an official position or to carry out activity for a term of up to five years.

The full text is available on legal.ge after signing in: https://legal.ge/en/service/intellectual-property-law-en/counterfeit-defense-en

### What is falsification under criminal law?

The deceptive alteration of the quality of an item by the producer or the recipient, committed for gain. Under the basic part it is punishable by a fine, corrective labour for up to two years, house arrest from six months to two years, or imprisonment from one to three years.

### How does repeated commission aggravate the punishment?

The same act committed repeatedly is punishable by imprisonment from three to five years with deprivation of the right to hold a position or carry out activity for up to three years; where a grave consequence followed, the term reaches seven to ten years.

### How is this norm connected with trademarks?

The unlawful large-scale manufacture or use of another's trademark causing significant damage forms a separate composition, punishable by a fine, corrective labour for up to two years or imprisonment for the same term. Large scale means more than 1000 units, and significant damage means a value above 5000 lari.

### Can the punishment be limited to a fine?

Yes, the sanctions of the basic parts of both the falsification and the trademark norms begin with a fine, but the court remains entitled to impose imprisonment, so professional defence remains necessary.