Is it illegal to sell “Replica” Rolex watches?
In a word — YES! Replica watches are, in fact, counterfeit and therefore are ILLEGAL. Any product that includes copyrigtht and/or trademark names or logos (without the copyright and/or trademark owner’s permission) is considered to be counterfeit. On January 17, 2001, the U.S. District Court in Columbia, SC, charged two individuals with selling allegedly counterfeit versions of Rolex watches. Their website claimed the watches to be “replicas”. Mark Dipadova was later sentenced to 24 months in prison and was ordered to pay $138,264 in restitution for “trafficking counterfeited trademarks”, while Rufus Todd James was sentenced to 36 months in prison, and was ordered to pay $116,779 in restitution on a similar charge.
