Trade Innovations News

CBP Publishes IPR Notice

U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has published a Federal Register Notice on amending regulations pertaining to importations of merchandise bearing recorded trademarks or recorded trade names (Intellectual Property Rights).

The interim amendments, effective upon publication in the Federal Register (April 24, 2012), allow CBP, subject to limitations, to disclose to an intellectual property right holder information appearing on merchandise or its retail packaging that may comprise information otherwise protected by the Trade Secrets Act, for the purpose of assisting CBP in determining whether the merchandise bears a counterfeit mark.

According to CBP, these changes will provide a pre-seizure procedure for disclosing information about imported merchandise suspected of bearing a counterfeit mark for the limited purpose of obtaining the right holder’s assistance in determining whether the mark is counterfeit or not.

For an Adobe copy of the 6-page Federal Register notice please follow this link: CBP IPR Federal Register Notice.pdf

For an Adobe copy of the 23-page Interim Rule please follow this link: CBP IPR Interim Rule.pdf