Secure Proactive Monitoring and Enforcement of Your IP Rights Through CBP’s Recordation Program
Do you have a trademark or copyright filed with the United States Patent and Trade Office (USPTO)? While registering your intellectual property (IP) with the U.S. government is necessary to protect against infringers, it is only half the battle. IP owners need to have robust monitoring processes in place to find and enforce against infringers. Fortunately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can help you monitor for infringing merchandise at ports of entry through the CBP recordation program.
What is CBP Recordation?
The purpose of recording a copyright or trademark with CBP is to partner with the agency to prevent the unauthorized import or export of merchandise which bears a recorded trademark or copyright. CBP has the authority to seize, detain, forfeit, and even destroy merchandise entering or leaving the U.S. if it infringes on a valid trademark or copyright that has been subsequently recorded with the agency.
Once a trademark or copyright is recorded with CBP, the owner’s information is entered into an electronic database accessible to over 60,000 U.S. Customs officers in the United States and overseas. CBP uses the information to target shipments and physically examine merchandise which ultimately prevents the importation or exportation of infringing goods. As of 2021, the number of active recordations with CBP is 20,756.
Gray Market Protection
Some IP owners may also be eligible for “gray market” protection, which pertains to genuine products bearing a trademark or brand name approved for use in a country outside the U.S. Gray market goods are different […]
