Trademark customs surveillance is the process where customs authorities watch and enforce trademark rights at borders to stop counterfeit goods from entering. This helps protect businesses and consumers from fake products that can be unsafe or harm the economy.
Trademark customs surveillance is a critical mechanism for protecting intellectual property rights. This process involves monitoring and enforcing trademark rights to prevent the importation of counterfeit goods, which pose significant risks to economic security, public health, and safety.
This is essential for safeguarding the integrity of branded products, protecting consumer trust, and combating the proliferation of counterfeit items, which can be substandard or hazardous. The primary purpose is to ensure that only authentic goods, compliant with intellectual property rights (IPR), enter the market, thereby supporting legitimate businesses and maintaining economic health.
Recordation of the IP object with the Customs Register serves as an efficient tool for combating of the traffic of the counterfeit products or movement of the goods unauthorized by the right holder.
Customs control, as a rule, extends to import and export movement of goods, except goods in transit and goods purchased by individuals for personal use.
Once the procedure of recordation of the IP objects is completed and the trademark is recorded with the Customs Register the customs authorities will inform the owner of a registered trademark on the suspension of any goods suspected of infringement of intellectual property rights which allow to protect valuable IP assets by addressing importation of infringing products into the particular jurisdiction. The shipment is detained for further examination, triggered by initial inspections or database checks. This step is critical to prevent the release of potentially infringing goods into the market.
In order to record a trademark into the Customs Register it is usually required to provide:
Furthermore the application for the recordation of the trademark in the Customs Register shall contain the following information and shall be supplied with the following documents:
ABOUT THE TRADEMARK
ABOUT GENUINE GOODS
ABOUT COUNTERFEIT GOODS
It is recommendable to provide some samples of the genuine and counterfeit goods, if possible.
The trademark is usually recorded with the Customs Register for a period of 2-3 years with the possibility of renewal an unlimited number of times within the period of validity of the trademark.
Once the Customs detains the goods that are considered to be suspicious or having counterfeit features, they shall notify the legal representative as recorded with the Customs Register and within 10 days it is necessary to provide a reply to the Customs stating that either the goods are counterfeit and an action will be taken, or the goods are authentic and may be released.
Counterfeit goods may be withdrawn from circulation and destroyed in any case, whereas unauthorized imported genuine goods in many jurisdictions are subject to these procedures only in exceptional cases (poor quality, danger to life and health citizens, etc.).
PARALLEL IMPORT
Parallel import refers to the trade of genuine goods that are imported into a country without the consent of the intellectual property owner, despite bearing trademarks or other IP objects that have been recorded in the Customs Register. This practice is controversial and often leads to legal disputes, as it can undermine authorized distributors, affect pricing stability, and potentially harm the brand’s market strategy.
The practice of handling the importation of genuine goods bearing the trademark registered with the Customs Register is quite obscure in many of the countries of CIS region mostly due to the fact that the legislation often doesn’t contain the exact provisions regulating the movement of authentic goods though in most cases goods marked with intellectual property objects are only allowed to pass through the border with the permission of the right holder on condition that the relevant intellectual property object (a trademark in particular) has been recorded in the Customs Register. Such a rule applies primarily due to the interpretation of the provisions of the legislation banning unauthorized use of the trademark by third parties without the consent/authorization of the right holder.
With that in mind, it shall be noted that customs recordation and surveillance may be also quite an effective tool to combat the flow of the genuine goods if the owner of the rights objects this for a variety of reasons like detrimental effect on the activities of their authorized distributors, price damping, and other potential adverse effects.
Overall, customs control plays a crucial role in safeguarding intellectual property rights and preventing the traffic of counterfeit goods. It also ensures that the intellectual property right holders can take legal action against infringers effectively.
The surveillance is not just about enforcement but also about economic impact. Counterfeit goods can affect the competitiveness of local manufacturers, costing jobs and revenue. They also pose health and safety risks, such as counterfeit electronics or medical devices, underscoring the importance of robust border controls. Counterfeit goods fuel criminal business and exploit the labor of socially vulnerable workers, including minors.
The IPR GROUP offers a high quality, knowledgeable and streamline service for recordation of IP objects with the Customs in the CIS region. We have extensive experience in dealing with Customs authorities in the most efficient way and in the best interests of brand owners. The IPR GROUP team provides guidance on enforcement strategies and helps build a strong case against counterfeiters.
