Unauthorized use of someone else's business name and other distinctive marks of goods or services

The aim of this paper is to examine the elements of the criminal offense of unauthorized use of someone else's business name and other distinctive marks of goods or services, as a form of criminal offense against the economy, which in modern criminal law has particular significance and is subject to specific regulation. Using the analytical-synthetic method with the inductive-deductive approach, certain rules were determined. The basic form of this criminal offense has two alternative modes of commission, namely: the use of someone else's business name, geographical indication of origin, trademark, or distinctive mark of goods, as well as the introduction of certain features of someone else's business name, trademark, or distinctive mark into one's business name, brand, trademark or special designation. The consequence of committing the criminal offense of unauthorized use of someone else's business name and other distinctive marks of goods or services consists in harm done to the rightful owner of the business name, as well as to the owner of other distinctive marks of goods or services. The criminal offense of unauthorized use of someone else's business name and other distinctive marks of goods or services is prescribed by Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia, as a special type of unfair competition, which also affects the interests of customers or users of services. The result of the paper is a commentary of the Criminal Code in the domain of unauthorized use of someone else's business name and other distinctive marks of goods or services.