What IPR can seek China Customs protection?
Only the following IPRs may be registered with the China Customs: trade marks (but no service trade marks), patents (including invention, utility and design) and copyright.
How many ways China Customs protects IPR? Which is more beneficial to rights holders?
1. Active Protection. It needs to be recorded with China Customs in advance. The customs will detain suspected infringing goods. The requirement of deposit is relatively low (up to 100,000 CNY), and the customs can investigate and determine if infringing within 30 working days from the date of detaining; if infringing, the customs can confiscate it and punish it; if the customs is not sure if infringing, they should release the goods within 50 working days from the date of detaining if there is no notice from courts.
1. Passive Protection. It does NOT need to be recorded with China Customs in advance. The requirement of the deposit is relatively high (no less than the equivalent value of the goods).The customs only can detain in the case of receiving a request from the right holder, can NOT investigate, and must release the goods within 20 working days from the date of detaining if there is no notice from the courts.
Through comparison, it can be concluded that the active protection can provide more effective IPR protection for right holders, and recordation is a precondition for the active protection. See more their procedure as follows:
What documents to submit for recordation with China Customs?
- ID of holders;
- 授权委托书；
- 知识产权证书（实用新型/外观设计评价报告）；
- 真品和赝品的信息。
Should I need to pay official fees for recordation with China Customs?
CNY 800 per IPRs.
Process and duration of recordation with China customs?
Within 30 working days from the date of filing recordation, China Customs will make a decision to approve or reject it.
After approval, the applicant should pay the filing fee.
After receiving the filing fee, the customs will notify the recordation taking effect.
Should documents made abroad be notarized?
If the holder is overseas, the customs does not require notarization of docs, including ID, POA, translation, etc.
If China Customs has any questions about the truthfulness of the docs, it may require notarization.
How can the public use the China Customs filing system to inquire about IPRs of others?
In some circumstances, such as IPR holder’s suppliers, or distributors in mainland China, who want to verify whether the holder has recorded his IPRs with China Customs, they can access the IRP database of China Customs at: http://202.127.48.145:8888/
