Selective justice in the European Union: criminalising supply, ignoring demand in the counterfeit goods market

Abstract This study explores the criminal law protection of industrial property in Hungarian and European contexts, showing how trademark holders’ interests often override legality and proportionality in counterfeiting cases. It argues that counterfeiting involves consumer complicity and that purchasing fake goods constitutes money laundering under EU law—despite the appeal of symbolic consumption. The money laundering aspect remains overlooked, with buyers rarely prosecuted. As a result, criminal law addresses only part of the problem, undermining the coherence of the legal system.