Border seizure

Border seizure may prevent the import or export of goods by the customs authorities.

Upon request, the customs authorities will consider the applicant’s trademark rights in the course of their activities and will detain potentially trademark-infringing products. Border seizures are also possible on the basis of other intellectual property rights (designs, patents, utility models, plant variety rights).

If an application for border seizure has been approved and the customs authorities subsequently suspect piracy or counterfeiting, they will detain the suspected goods and notify both the rights holder and the recipient of the goods. Within a limited period, the rights holder may take legal action against the supplier of the suspected goods or apply for a simplified destruction procedure.

Advice for use in practice: In the border seizure application, in addition to the intellectual property rights to be considered, clear instructions should be given to the customs authorities on how to distinguish original products from counterfeit goods and on which distribution channels they are distributed.