The Buyer

The buyer refers to the end user or consumer who purchases one or two for their own personal use. These do not have much to fear when it comes to prosecution. At most, they can be prosecuted for possession of counterfeit goods (yes, a replica CAN be legally considered a counterfeit good).

The buyer really doesn’t have much to worry about legally. We have never heard of any cases where someone purchased 1 or 2 replicas and was prosecuted, or even sued. The buyer’s biggest concern should be the dealers they are dealing with, and what type of junk quality they might be receiving or how they can be ripped off.
 

The Seller

The seller refers to dealers who sell directly to the buyer. They purchase from wholesalers, and sell them on the streets or over the Internet.

In the past, Rolex has never vigorously prosecuted street dealers. As a matter of fact, there are many dealers just down the street from Rolex’s headquarters who have been selling for decades.

The reason for this is because even if Rolex wins a civil lawsuit against these street dealers, they will never get to collect the damages. So the only concerns these street dealers have are raids and confiscations. Many get thrown in jail for a few nights at most.

Traditionally, Rolex doesn’t seem to care that someone sells their watches on the streets. Their audience and reach are very small – it is limited to those who can pass by the store and make a purchase.

Rolex conducts raids and seizures to stop dealers on the streets. Rarely do they prosecute them criminally unless the dealer tried to counterfeit the watch by selling it as the real thing.

However, things have changed recently. Because of the Internet’s massive reach, Rolex has been vigorously suing and prosecuting dealers over the Internet. There are many high-profile criminal cases, and every website offering Rolex replicas will get served legal papers sooner or later.

The civil charges brought upon dealers who sell them as replicas are usually trademark infringement, and the initial damages are usually $500,000 or $1 million. But the actual amount paid out to Rolex will depend on how many watches the dealer has sold.

For example, if Rolex discovers $100,000 of Rolex replica sales by the dealer, Rolex will usually ask for $100,000 in punitive and attorney damages. And they never lose in a civil court as long as they can prove you have shipped even 1 watch.

The criminal charges brought upon dealers usually relate to trafficking in counterfeit goods. Even though you are selling them as replicas, a Rolex replica is legally considered a “counterfeit good” in court. The charges stem from Title 18 United States Code 2320 of the Criminal Code, which reads:

TITLE 18 UNITED STATES CODE, PART 1, CHAPTER 13, SECTIONS 2320 – Trafficking in Counterfeit Goods and Services

Offense: Intentionally trafficking or attempting to traffic in goods and services and knowingly using a counterfeit mark on or in connection with such goods and services.

And the penalties read:

“…if an individual, be fined not more than $2,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both, and, if a person other than an individual, be fined not more than $5,000,000. In the case of an offense by a person under this section that occurs after that person is convicted of another offense under this section, the person convicted, if an individual, shall be fined not more than $5,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if other than an individual, shall be fined not more than $15,000,000.”

This means that even selling one watch can invoke this criminal code. The more you sell, the greater the penalties.

The profits can be big, but so can the drawbacks. The means charge backs on your merchant account months after a customer has made the credit card purchase, and seizure of assets as well as frozen bank accounts (which happens each time Rolex sues someone).

So what’s the moral? If you can’t do the time, then don’t do the crime. Don’t sell Rolex replicas unless you are prepared to be sued for civil damages and possibly have criminal charges brought upon you. If you think you will get away with it, read the articles above over and over again.
 

The Wholesaler

Usually whenever a seller is prosecuted and/or sued, a deal will be made to reduce the fines/penalties. A part of the deal must be that the seller reveals their wholesaler. Rolex then investigates the wholesaler, and prosecutes them as well as any other dealers they supply on the Internet.

This has happened before, and a couple of our staff members were found this way by Rolex private investigators. The charges brought on the wholesaler are usually the same as the dealer, but the punishments and fines are much greater.

Wholesalers have much greater selling volume and power than the dealers themselves. And the only way Rolex can stop the problem of replicas over the Internet is to attack the source – the wholesalers. Wholesalers also have much more inventory (usually in the thousands) so a confiscation can lead to an instant shortage in supply over the Internet.

In addition, prosecuting a wholesaler reveals many other dealers, and starts investigations for other cases. This is good news for the private investigators who feed on these investigations for their jobs and revenue.

Never be a wholesaler. The more you sell, the greater the penalties. And the more you sell, the greater the motivation for the private investigators to conduct lengthy investigations and prosecute you.
 

Manufacturer

We will not discuss the prosecutions of manufacturers because the staff here are not very familiar with them.

In general, manufacturers are hit hardest with fines and penalties. However, there are 2 types of manufacturers: those outside the US who manufacture the watch then smuggle them into the US, or those inside the US who smuggle unmarked watches into the country and then engrave and mark them with Rolex markings.

For the manufacturers outside US, there is very little Rolex can do. They can only put pressure on the other countries in Asia to stop the problem, but usually those countries don’t really care. But for manufacturers inside US, it is hard for Rolex to find them because there aren’t very many.

Usually the only way Rolex finds the manufacturers inside US is by luck. They prosecute a wholesaler, then discover manufacturing equipment and come to the conclusion that they are the manufacturer as well. But tracking them down is very hard.