Kinshasa, March 30th, 2026 (CPA).– Counterfeiting of a trade name (or trademark piracy) is punishable under the Digital Code, a law promulgated in 2023 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a lawyer noted Monday in Kinshasa during an interview with CPA. “Counterfeiting, or trademark piracy, of a trade name, designation, software, preparatory design materials and a geographical indication is punishable under the Digital Code by a penalty of 5 to 10 years of penal servitude and a fine ranging from 50 to 100 million Congolese francs (CDF), or by one of these penalties only,” said Frédérick Onasho, a lawyer at the Kinshasa-Gombe Bar. He indicated that counterfeiting, under this Code, is constituted when there is no authorization from the author or rights holders to reproduce, use, sell, disparage or distort a trademark, trade name, appellation of origin or geographical indication belonging to another party, through or on an electronic communication network or an information system. According to the lawyer, a trade name is a “gold mine” for any trader, adding that it is considered part of business assets under the law. Lawyer Onasho also pointed out that although trade names were already protected under previous legislation, the Digital Code has strengthened this protection in the digital sphere, particularly on social media.
“The trade name had already been protected by earlier legislation such as Article 104 of the OHADA Uniform Act on General Commercial Law. Thus, Article 376 of the Digital Code has reinforced this protection on electronic communication networks,” he stressed, adding that a trade name is the identity of a company in official documents. “It is the name under which a business is known to the public and identified by its clients in advertisements, invoices, quotations and other documents,” he insisted. According to him, the essence of this offense lies in the unauthorized use of a trade name by a trader without the consent of its owner or rights holders. Any direct or indirect use or dissemination of a trade name belonging to a third party is considered unfair competition, particularly when used via social networks to attract customers, and is therefore subject to sanctions. He also outlined the conditions under which a victim of such counterfeiting may bring an admissible action before the courts. “For the victim’s action to be admissible in court, a required deposit must be made, followed by the registration of the trade name with the competent ministry,” he concluded.