Posts Tagged: "U.S. Customs"

U.S. Customs Recordation – A Valuable Enforcement Tool

Owners of trademarks and copyrights registered in the U.S. have available a potent enforcement tool to stave off entry of increasing volume of infringing and counterfeit goods into the U.S. – recordation of these rights with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP has recently extended recordation eligibility to pending copyright applications on a temporary six-month basis. The investment for recordation is nominal, the process is simple, and the IP rights enforcement services received in return are significant.

PopSockets wins General Exclusion Order Against Infringing Grips at ITC

PopSockets filed its Section 337 complaint with the ITC last April, naming 14 respondents, with 13 based in China and one operating in Hong Kong. This February, the administrative law judge (ALJ) assigned to the case found that not only did the accused products infringe PopSockets’ ‘031 patent, but the infringement was widespread, going beyond the 14 named respondents, such that a general exclusion order was warranted, barring the import of infringing products into the United States by anyone, not just the named respondents.

China Reorganizes SIPO, Gives It Authority Over Trademark and Geographical Indications

Among the many bureaucratic changes that resulted from the amendments to the Chinese Constitution included the integration of trademark responsibilities with the other intellectual property activities of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO). Such responsibilities, including the management of trademark applications, grants and administrative adjudications, were formerly the province of China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), which has been disbanded. The newly reorganized SIPO will also handle applications and grants for geographical indications of product origin.

U.S. Customs Reports a Record Number of Counterfeit Shipments Seized During 2017

the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it, along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), had seized a record number of counterfeit and pirated products which violated intellectual property rights last year. Collectively, CBP and ICE seized a total of 34,143 shipments of goods during 2017’s fiscal year, an increase of 8 percent over the total number of counterfeit shipments seized during 2016. About 90 percent of the shipments seized were in the express carrier and international mail environments. According to the law enforcement agencies, the total estimated manufacturers’ suggested retail price (MSRP) for the genuine versions of those good reached $1.2 billion.