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Protecting Your Intellectual Property Internationally

Do you sell products in multiple countries? How are you assuring your intellectual property is protected? Do you know about “Foreign Patent Applications” or “PCT’s”? If not, you may not be adequately protecting your intellectual property abroad!

When you sell your product in multiple countries you are vulnerable to other companies stealing your idea and reproducing your intellectual property as their own.

How do you protect yourself?

To protect your business from being taken advantage of you may consider filing a foreign patent application. You may ask, what’s a foreign patent application? It’s a request at a foreign patent office for the grant of a patent for the invention described and claimed by that application. An application typically consists of a description of the invention, together with official forms and correspondence relating to the application.

Foreign patent protection will prevent others from profiting from your idea abroad. Many countries allow you to claim priority from your U.S. application. For utility patents you can file with priority status within one year of your original filing date in the U.S. under the Paris Convention, or six months from your original filing date for design patent applications. A utility patent protects the functional […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2022-07-08T15:56:51-04:00January 12, 2013|Best Practices, IPR, Trademarks and Logos|1 Comment

Band-Aid or Stitches? What’s Your Compliance Approach?

When you get a deep cut, do you simply put on a band-aid or do you go to the hospital to get stitches that you really need? Stitches take time and are more costly – but, your bleeding will stop and your cut is less likely to re-open. With a band-aid – you’re likely to re-open your wound and/or get an infection. You get stitches if you know what’s good for you!

Compliance is similar in that there may be a quick fix for the current issue; however, if you don’t stop the bleeding and get stitches, you will be in trouble in the long-run, and the bleeding won’t stop.

On a daily basis, different companies call me to discuss issues they are having with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). For instance, today, a company called me discussing a CBP 28 – Request for Information, and thereafter a CBP 29 – Notice of Action received from CBP. The issue was an underlying classification issue. Bottom line, they had never done any Pre-Compliance on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule’s (HTS) they were using for their imported merchandise. They said the infamous line – that’s why I hired a broker. Important to note that this just does not cut it with CBP.

CBP publishes really great Informed Compliance Publications for Importers – too few importers have read them, and too small a percentage of importers know they exist. For new importers, CBP has a great resource titled Basic Importing and Exporting. Included […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2022-07-07T09:23:06-04:00September 27, 2012|Best Practices, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

As U.S. Imports from China Intensify so does CBP Enforcement

Co-authored by Michael De Biase.

With the concentration of US imports from China increasing in parallel with intellectual property rights seizures, companies rely heavily on the government, specifically on US Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to help protect and enforce their intellectual property rights (“IPR”).

According to Global Sources, a leading business-to-business media company and a primary facilitator of trade with Greater China, “US imports from China [are] more concentrated than ever“.

Data from the U.S. Department of Commerce establishes that importation into the U.S. is a concentrated field, with the top 500 U.S. importers – 0.4 % of all importers – comprising roughly 68% of all imports by value in 2010. Imports from China, although somewhat less concentrated, are still dominated by larger enterprises, as companies with more than 500 employees – 4% of all importers from China – account for 60% of all imports from China. As concentration increases, the opportunity to trade in quantities that take advantage of China’s economies of scale decrease; thus, heightened concentration is not a good thing for Chinese manufacturers.

While the import concentration from China is growing, CBP is reporting a record number of IPR seizures. From 2010-2011 alone, IPR seizures increase by 24%, and have nearly doubled since 2009. Considering that China is the number one source company of imports, it should come as no surprise that it also accounts for the largest number of IPR seizures, with 62% of […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2022-07-07T09:24:36-04:00September 18, 2012|Best Practices, China, China Trade War, Counterfeits, Import, Import Alert, International Business, International Law, International Trade, IPR, Trademarks and Logos, Supply Chain, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

Bank Account Seizures by ICE and DEA for Money Laundering

This past year has seen an explosion of seizures of bank accounts by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for alleged trade-based money laundering or “structuring”. In 2011, I have handled these cases in Miami, New York, San Diego, Boston, Phoenix, San Juan, and Norfolk. The funds in the bank accounts are taken when the bank is served with a Seizure Warrant signed by a United States Magistrate Judge, based upon an affidavit prepared by the DEA or ICE Agent.

Typically, the bank (and its customer) do not get to see the Affidavit because the criminal proceeding is ongoing, and the Affidavit is sealed. The Seizure Warrant itself typically alleges that the money is subject to seizure because it is the proceeds of drug activity in violation of 21 U.S.C. 881 and 18 U.S.C. 1956.

A related legal basis for the seizure of bank accounts is ‘structuring’ – the deposit of $10,000 or less in cash repeatedly in a bank account to avoid the filing by the bank of a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen), U.S. Department of the Treasury . See 31 CFR 1010.314. A CTR is FinCen Form 104. A CTR is required to be filed by all banks whenever a deposit of cash over $10,000 is made in a single day into a single account or by […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2021-03-26T14:38:05-04:00December 30, 2011|Best Practices, Seizure|0 Comments

Help! U.S. Customs Took My Money at the Airport / ¡Ayuda! La Aduana de los Estados Unidos Incautó Mi Dinero en el Aeropuerto

You may legally carry or mail any amount of money you want into or out of the United States, but if it is more than $10,000 at one time, you better first report it to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Otherwise, you risk U.S. Customs taking it from you, and never getting it back. Why? Because your failure to report the international transportation of money is a violation of the Currency and Foreign Transaction Reporting Act.

All too often, I am contacted by a distraught American ciitizen or resident returning from a trip overseas, or a foreign visitor to the United States, who was unaware of the laws regarding currency reporting. The person was asked by a U.S. Customs officer upon arrival at the international airport if he or she was carrying over $10,000. When the passenger honestly answer “yes”, or the U.S. Customs officer believes the passenger may be lying about the amount of money being transported, the passenger and his or her luggage are examined. If over $10,000 in monetary instruments, including travelers checks and U.S. or foreign money, is discovered, and the required form, FINCEN Form 105, has not been filed with U.S. Customs, all of the money is likely to be seized on the spot by U.S. Customs.

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By Jennifer Diaz|2022-07-06T12:54:43-04:00February 1, 2010|Best Practices, Currency Seizure, Customs Expert, International Travel, Pre-compliance, Seizure, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

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