Intellectual Property Rights

Before beginning a career in international trade, I did not ever stop to think that the t-shirt I was wearing or dishes I was using were likely made elsewhere, and went through a long complicated logistics supply chain in order to reach my local store. Little did I know that when anything goes wrong in that complicated supply chain, it would be my job to help. Recently, a client had over 2.5 million dollars worth of electronic merchandise on hold by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Customs) for alleged intellectual property rights violations. In plain English, Customs was under the impression my client was trying to import goods with trademarks or logos they did not have the authorization to import.

For this client, this was a lot of money at stake, and it could have put them out of business if we did not come up with a quick solution. Instead of thinking of the band aid type solution, to solely fix this issue, we came up with a compliance plan for the client to use going forward, that would also help solve the current issue.

The compliance plan involved both a short term and long term solution. In the short term, the goal was to have the 2.5 million dollars worth of merchandise released ASAP. To accomplish this goal, we had to prove to Customs that our client had the appropriate authorization from the relevant trademark holders. (Good time for you to check over your trademark licenses, are they all […]

What some don’t know is the merchandise does NOT even have to be destined for the U.S. for CBP to seize it.  Yes, it’s true.  CBP detains and physically inspects cargo daily. CBP is supposed to issue timely detention notices and the detention notices are supposed to include the specific reason for the detention, anticipated length of the detention; nature of the tests or inquiries to be conducted; and nature of any information which, if supplied to U.S. Customs may accelerate the disposition of the detention.  I wish I had a dollar for every importer that told me they never received one, or where the rationale for detention was blank, or said IPR (intellectual property rights)!

I am often retained by client’s just to get CBP on the phone to find out WHY the goods are detained.  As with everything in life, it’s who you know, and who will pick up your phone call.  Wish this process was different, but… typically, it isn’t.

Bottom line, if you hire someone to assist you with this process, ensure they know the internal procedures of CBP, as […]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) takes Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement very seriously, in fact, its a priority.  Shipments not destined for the U.S., that are merely in transit (for example from China for a brief stop in Miami to the ultimate destination in Latin America), are no exception.  The fact that CBP enforces IPR rights for in transit merchandise surprises many — but lets face it, if CBP is to protect IPR rights, why should it stop at products solely destined for the U.S.?  If you took the time to register your trademark or copyright with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and then took the extra step to record that trademark or copyright with CBP, wouldn’t you want CBP to stop infringers, even if they are just passing through for a brief moment?  Check to see if a company has taken that extra step to record their IPR here.

CBP publishes IPR statistics yearly.  The statistics for 2009 were recently published in December of 2009.  There were 14,841 seizures from IPR violations.  Of no surprise, China was the top trading partner for IPR seizures in FY 2009 with a domestic value of $204.7 million in counterfeit merchandise, accounting for 79% of the total value seized.  Footwear was the top commodity seized in FY 2009 with a domestic value of
$99.7 million, which accounted for 38% of the entire value of infringing goods.  Consumer electronics was a distant second at $31.7 million, […]