How important is customs protection of intellectual property rights?

Taking the customs protection of trademark exclusive right as an example, this paper discusses the importance of customs protection of intellectual property rights.

Trademark? It is a sign that distinguishes the sources of goods or services of different enterprises. Whether registered or not, each supplier of goods or services will have its own unique trademark to distinguish its source. Some scholars even believe that running a business is actually a late-stage business trademark. It can be seen that trademarks are intangible assets of enterprises and carriers of reputation, which play an important role in the growth and development of enterprises.

According to Chinese trademarks? Apply first? In principle, registered trademarks are the premise of obtaining exclusive rights, while unregistered trademarks are often difficult to protect rights. Therefore, many enterprises have begun to pay attention to trademark protection. In view of the infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark, enterprises will generally seek industrial and commercial investigations or file infringement lawsuits and other legal actions. In addition, customs protection of intellectual property rights is also one of the most effective rights protection measures.

According to the Regulations of People's Republic of China (PRC) on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, customs protection applies to intellectual property rights related to inbound and outbound goods and protected by laws and administrative regulations of People's Republic of China (PRC), and protects the exclusive right to use trademarks, copyrights and patents. Taking the customs protection of trademark exclusive right as an example, this paper discusses the importance of customs protection of intellectual property rights.

Customs protection of intellectual property rights is mainly divided into two forms, namely, active protection (ex officio protection) and passive protection (protection according to the applicant's application).

Active protection means that the owner of a registered trademark applies to the General Administration of Customs of China for filing the intellectual property protection of its registered trademark. When the customs discovers the import and export goods suspected of infringing the registered trademark right, it may detain the suspected infringing goods ex officio and make further investigation and handling.

The following briefly introduces the main reasons for the filing of the exclusive right to use a trademark under customs protection:

(1) The filing process of customs protection is relatively simple, easy to operate, with long protection period and low cost.

At present, the filing process of customs protection is relatively simple and easy to operate, which can basically be completed on the website of China General Administration of Customs. The filing of customs protection of intellectual property rights shall take effect from the date of approval of the General Administration of Customs, and the validity period shall be 7 years; On the premise that the intellectual property right is valid, the intellectual property right holder may apply to the General Administration of Customs for renewal of the filing within 6 months before the expiration of the validity period of the filing of intellectual property protection. In addition, this year, the State Council promulgated a moratorium on the collection of administrative fees, including the suspension of the collection of customs intellectual property filing fees, that is, customs protection of intellectual property filing, without charging any fees. Enterprises generally only need to bear a certain agency fee to complete the customs protection filing of trademark rights.

(2) Customs protection for the record is a prerequisite for the customs to actively protect the exclusive right to use trademarks.

If the registered trademark owner fails to file the trademark protection in time, the customs cannot determine and judge whether the import and export goods are suspected of infringement.

During and after filing, the obligee can also add or delete the legal authorized users of trademarks in the customs filing system at any time, that is, if the obligee entrusts a specific production enterprise or import and export agent to import and export its branded products within a certain period of time, the obligee can choose to list the product production enterprise and import and export agent as authorized users of trademarks and add their information to the customs system, so that the goods imported and exported by the obligee through these companies will be cleared smoothly. Similarly, if the cooperation relationship breaks down or the cooperation contract is terminated, the obligee can delete the information of the manufacturer and agent from the filing system at any time. If these companies still import and export goods with the exclusive right to use registered trademarks as counterfeit rights holders, they will be unable to escape customs inspection and seizure.

(3) The filing of customs protection will greatly reduce the economic burden of the obligee.

Many enterprises will entrust law firms or intellectual property agencies to monitor the market, so as to know whether there is any infringement of their trademark exclusive rights in the market, which is undoubtedly a big expenditure. If the obligee wants to take legal action against other people's trademark infringement, such as filing a civil tort lawsuit, he will have to bear high attorney fees and legal fees.

Once the customs protection of trademark rights is put on record, local customs will take the initiative to inspect import and export commodities. If a suspected infringing product is found, the customs staff will take the initiative to contact the obligee (or his agent). If the obligee applies to the customs for detaining the goods suspected of infringement, he only needs to submit a letter of guarantee, and then the customs will investigate the goods suspected of infringement ex officio, and the trademark obligee can provide necessary assistance at this time. If the detained suspected infringing goods are identified as infringing goods by the customs, they shall be confiscated and disposed of by the customs. After the customs decision takes effect, the customs will refund the deposit submitted by the obligee.

(4) The filing of customs protection also has a certain deterrent effect on possible infringers.

Import and export enterprises generally know that the customs will inspect inbound and outbound goods, and require the consignee or consignor to truthfully declare the intellectual property status related to import and export goods to the customs according to the requirements of the customs. Therefore, filing the exclusive right to use a trademark with the customs as soon as possible will also help to warn infringers, reduce or avoid the occurrence of infringement and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

The above is the introduction of customs' active protection of intellectual property rights. Compared with active protection, the registered trademark owner can also take the initiative to apply to the customs when he finds that the goods suspected of infringement are about to be imported or exported. The customs can detain the goods suspected of infringement according to the applicant's request for financial protection measures for trademark rights not filed with the General Administration of Customs. However, this kind of passive protection is difficult to achieve, mainly because the obligee does not apply, but the customs will not detain it; In order to apply, the obligee must clearly inform the customs of the name and specifications of the goods suspected of infringement, the port, time, means of transport, consignor and consignee information of the goods suspected of infringement, the name, domicile, main business premises of the infringement suspect, infringement evidence, etc. In the actual business process, it is difficult for the trademark owner to find or monitor such detailed information about the suspected infringing goods. Without this information, the customs cannot accurately judge the suspected infringing goods and protect the intellectual property rights of the trademark owner.

To sum up, customs protection of intellectual property rights plays a very important role in protecting intellectual property rights of enterprises, and this protection mode should be used reasonably to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.