For our brochure on border seizure, please visit: Contact Claus Eckhartt:
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Hello everyone. We're here to talk about custom seizures in the EU. We would like to inform you, to give you some insights on what to do to get the customs authorities to act for you at the border. I'm here with Claus Eckhartt. Claus!
00:00:18 German customs are very keen to detect all counterfeits which are out there but, of course, they need the information. They need information on the IP rights involved. That would typically be trademarks. They need full information on the products which are covered by these IP rights, and, obviously, they need information on the counterfeit: What kind of counterfeit that is.
To whom should we provide such information? How does that work?
00:01:18 We need some information on the trademark and what our clients typically do, and what their product is.
What specific information do we need for this application for action?
00:01:28 You need full information on the trademark rights, or design rights, or patent rights. You need full information on the formalities of these rights, information as comprehensive as possible on the products themselves: What type of product is it? The packaging, artwork color scheme, pack and, the pricing. The pricing can be an indicator whether or not it's a counterfeit. If the product is available in several countries, you would need to know what type of packaging, what artwork is in that specific country. And that information should be submitted, too. Customs are very interested where the products are produced: Are they produced in the European Union or outside? Shipment and distribution information and the channels through which the original goods are shipped is essential, and it's also very important to know yourself whether this is a counterfeit or not. Is this a counterfeit or not? Is it going to the right party or is it going to some illegitimate setups?
00:03:18 And I can imagine when customs check many goods at the border, they will need a lot of information on the actual counterfeit product as well, like, how to detect them and how to see whether it's original or whether it's fake.
00:04:25 So, this is also essential information. The customs need to know what the counterfeits look like and in most cases, you will have that information already because you've encountered counterfeits previously, so images of such counterfeits are extremely helpful. And they need to be submitted to the data base and information, if you have that, where such counterfeits are typically produced. Often, they are produced in China or Turkey, and that is essential. Often, the client even has information specifically on towns or even companies which have cropped up previously and which are known as culprits. So it's very important to get all the information on file.
What happens next?
Once customs detect a counterfeit they contact you immediately, within hours, sometimes, and you need to report that extremely quickly to the client because time is of the essence. The deadlines for taking further action are extremely short, and so the client needs to know exactly the information relevant for making the decision, i.e. whether to destroy the counterfeit goods or whether further legal action is necessary as the case may be. Perhaps, by way of an ex parte preliminary injunction. That all depends on the circumstances.
00:05:13 So, this means that the client also internally has to set up a certain procedure, best practice, guidelines, for example, to take action, or to react quickly, once there is a counterfeit product.
It's important, actually right from the start, when you put the application for action in place at the German customs, to have protocols, guideline in place which you've agreed upon with the client, so everyone knows exactly what they have to do and within which timeframe, and what information is needed.
But it sounds like it's quite an effective action to take to get counterfeits prevented from coming in to the German or European market, right?
Absolutely, it's a wonderful tool because it's very cheap, actually. The customs don't ask for an official fee, okay? And, typically, with minimum information you can get very quick results. In fact, in some cases, or in most cases, the counterfeit goods are destroyed without any further action being necessary. So, it's extremely effective and has certainly helped to combat counterfeits in the last years. It's a very effective tool.
Okay. And so, if you want to know more about it, check out our website at BARDEHLE PAGENBERG where we have a brochure on custom seizure in the EU. Thank you very much.
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