New proposed cooperation of U.S. Customs against counterfeiting
U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection (CBP) published an interim rule regarding “Disclosure of Information for Certain Intellectual Property”, regulations in view to importations of merchandise bearing recorded trademarks or recorded trade names
The interim amendment allow CBP, subject to limitations, to disclose to an intellectual property right holder information appearing on merchandise or its retail packaging that might entail information otherwise protected by the Trade Secrets Act and for the purpose of assisting CBP in determining whether the merchandise bears a counterfeit mark. The grand owner will receive from CBP photographs or sample goods (and/or retail packaging) for examination and alphanumeric codes appearing on the goods. This leads to a pre-seizure procedure and assists CBP to define if such goods, marks are counterfeited or not prior to their entry into the U.S.A. and it is a step to further protect brand owners from illegally imported merchandise into America.