Having investigated patents and copyrights for businesses I've owned, the advice I was given was that there is quite a difference between infringing on either of them, and being sued because of it.
Primarily you can only be sued for two aspects:
1) The gain you have received from infringing on these patents or copyrights
2) The loss you have caused to the owner of the patents and copyrights
Assuming the manufacturer in country Y is selling them at wholesale to someone in country Z who will then sell them for retail. In theory the patent owner can sue the manufacturer for the revenue they generated through selling them at wholesale and for any damage caused to the patent owner (although this can be very hard to prove). The person retailing them in country Z should be fine as it is outside the jurisdiction of the patent.
If however the manufactuer did not gain from the transaction (i.e. they sell at a loss or the funds trail is hidden
) then they could not be sued as there was no gain. They could still however be sued for damage they caused, but as stated above this is much harder to prove and chances are unless the quantity and dollars values are of a significant value it is very unlikely to be pursued.
Patents and copyrights fall primarily under civil law not criminal law, so the infringement would need to be significant enough for the patent owner to bear the legal costs of pursuing such a matter with the risk of possibly losing. They also have to find out about it first!
Again from advice I've received, typically if caught breaching a patent or copyright, and if you get found out, you are more than likely just going to receive a solicitors letter stating you are in breach and to stop production, or to remove the offending item from sale. If you comply nothing happens, if you don't then they'll pursue you, but only if worthwhile. As a delay tactic, you can also respond with a request of proof that they own this patent / copyright and evidence that you have infringed upon it.
At a guess, I assume we're talking about the *cough*altezza lights*cough*
:oops:
it's a small world isn't it? My cousin, who provided me with the various advice for my businesses, is an intellectual property (IP) lawyer with AAR, what does your mum do there?