Stop Trademark and Copyright Infringing and Counterfeit Goods at the U.S. Border
Trademark and copyright piracy refers to the production and sale of counterfeit merchandise. Counterfeiting is a multi-billion dollar global industry. The US government reports pirated/counterfeit products cost US companies up to $250 billion annually. And they are directly responsible for the loss of 750,000 US jobs.
US law provides a number of remedies to owners of intellectual property (IP). Unfortunately, US IP rights generally don't mean much outside the US. Even when a foreign country recognizes US IP rights, enforcement isn't as predictable or effective as enforcement in the US. As such, US IP owners are often out of luck when attempting to protect their IP in foreign countries. However, once counterfeit products land at an American port or border crossing, US IP owners can enlist the help of US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) to stop imports of counterfeit goods from entering the US market.
Register Your IP with the US
The first step is to register the copyright or trademark with the US Copyright Office or US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). Trade names can also be recorded with US Customs & Border Protection, but are not registered at the federal level.
Record Your IP Registration with US Customs & Border Protection
Once the trademarks or copyrights are registered, IP owners can record the registration with US Customs & Border Protection via a relatively simple recordation process, plus a recordation fee of $190 per copyright or trademark class of goods or services.
In October 2005, CBP initiated the Intellectual Property Rights e-Recordation (IPRR) system. This system allows IP owners to electronically file recordation applications. This significantly reduced the amount of time normally required to process paper applications. Trade names can be recorded via written filings to US Customs & Border Protection.
Allow US Customs & Border Protection To Do Its Job
Once recorded, CBP will keep an eye out for imports of products which appear to contain recorded copyrights or trademarks.
If counterfeit products are spotted by US Customs & Border Protection, they will detain the goods. Then they will send the IP owner a letter informing them of the attempted importation of counterfeit goods. Additionally, the importer can be subject to substantial fines. Moreover, the IP owner obtains detailed information about those involved in the importation. Therefore, they can pursue legal action against all the parties involved in the counterfeit operation.
About the Firm:
Klemchuk LLP is an Intellectual Property (IP), Technology, Internet, and Business law firm. The firm offers comprehensive legal services including litigation and enforcement of all forms of IP as well as registration and licensing of patents, trademarks, trade dress, and copyrights. The firm also provides a wide range of technology, Internet, e-commerce, and business services including business planning, formation, and financing, mergers and acquisitions, business litigation, data privacy, and domain name dispute resolution. Additional information about the IP law firm and its IP law attorneys may be found at www.klemchuk.com.
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