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Intellectual Property Customs Filing and Recording

With successful customs filing of your intellectual property, information will display on the General Administration of Customs and gives you the power to deter potential infringers. In addition, it will also take effect at 46 customs around China once your IP is completely filed and recorded, forming a comprehensive protection to protect your intellectual property with real-time monitors.

What is The Intellectual Property Customs Filing?

Customs protection of intellectual property refers to the protection implemented by the customs on the exclusive rights to use the registered trademarks, copyrights, and patents when examining the imported and exported goods according to the laws and administrative regulations of the People’s Republic of China.

As the management authority for import and export goods, the customs can promptly seize batches of goods when suspicious goods are discovered and notify the right holder for confirmation. Due to the advantages of timeliness and effectiveness of customs intellectual property protection procedures, this measure has attracted more and more attention in recent years. However, there are also a group of companies, especially foreign companies, who have limited understanding of China's customs protection of intellectual property rights.

Here we will introduce the methods of customs protection of intellectual property rights, the significance and procedures of customs registration of intellectual property rights, and the responses of rights holders. Let’s start!

How can Customs Protect Your Intellectual Property?

The intellectual property right holder achieves the purpose of intellectual property protection by requesting the customs to detain the suspected infringing goods. There are two main enforcement methods for customs to detain goods suspected of infringing rights.

Upon application: The intellectual property right owner discovers that the suspected infringing goods are about to be imported or exported, and applies to the customs at the place where the goods may enter and exit to detain the suspected infringing goods and provide a guarantee. If the regulations are met, the customs shall detain the suspected infringing goods (Articles 12 to 15 of the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights".

Ex officio: The customs finds that import and export goods are suspected of violating registered intellectual property rights, and notifies the intellectual property right holder in writing. The intellectual property right holder shall notify the customs within 3 working days from the date of delivery of the notice whether to apply to detain the suspected infringing goods. If the intellectual property right owner applies to detain suspected infringing goods within the specified time and provides a guarantee, the customs shall detain the suspected infringing goods.

Since the ‘on application’ method requires the intellectual property right holder to conduct a large number of investigations in advance to be able to grasp the import and export information of the suspected infringing goods. It is relatively rare to apply for the detention of suspected infringing goods. However, after the intellectual property rights holders have registered their intellectual property rights at the customs, the customs have the obligation to protect the registered intellectual property rights. Therefore, in practice, the “ex officio” law enforcement model is relatively common.

The Importance of Intellectual Property Customs Filing

The filing of your intellectual property such as trademarks brings you significant advantages:

  • It is a prerequisite for customs to take proactive protective measures: According to the "Regulations on the Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights", if the intellectual property right holder registers the intellectual property rights with the customs in advance, the customs has the right to proactively suspend the import and export of infringing goods discovered by it, and investigate and deal with the infringing goods;
  • Help customs to find infringing goods: When applying for registration, the intellectual property rights holder needs to provide the legal status of the intellectual property rights, the contact information of the rights holder, the legal use of the intellectual property rights, the situation of the goods suspected of infringement, relevant pictures and photos, etc., so that the customs can make it possible for the customs to use them in the daily supervision process for suspected infringing goods. Therefore, the filing of intellectual property rights in advance can protect the legitimate rights and interests in a timely manner;
  • The financial burden on intellectual property rights holders is lighter: According to the implementation measures of the General Administration of Customs, under the customs ‘ex officio’ protection model, the guarantee provided by the intellectual property right holder to the customs shall not exceed RMB 100,000. If the intellectual property rights owner has not filed the intellectual property rights record in advance, he must provide a guarantee equivalent to the goods he requests to be detained.
  • Present a deterrent effect on infringers: Since the customs confiscates imported and exported infringing goods and imposes administrative penalties on importing and exporting enterprises, early registration of intellectual property rights can serve as a warning and deterrent to those enterprises that have imported and exported infringing goods without scruples in the past and encourage them to consciously respect relevant intellectual property. In addition, some companies that do not maliciously export infringing products may also inquire and register to learn whether the goods they contract to process, and export may constitute infringement. 

 

How to Apply for Intellectual Property Customs Filing?

Application Materials

  1. Intellectual property customs protection filing application form:
  • Certificate of the ownership of intellectual property;
  • Name and address of the right holder;
  • Name of the intellectual property to be filed and registration-related information;
  • The legal user, the importer, exporter or manufacturer of the goods;
  • Information about the known infringers of the intellectual property rights such as the importers and exporters, manufacturers, entry and exit customs, etc.
  1. Certificate of the owning entity of the intellectual property to be filed:
  • Business license, passport or the ID card of the owner of the intellectual property;
  1. Certificate of ownership of the intellectual property:

 

Reviewing Period

The General Administration of Customs will inform the applicant 1 to 2 months within the receiving date of all application materials.

 

Validity Period

The protection of intellectual property will take effect from the date the General Administration of Customs approves the filing and will be valid for 10 years. If the intellectual property rights are less than 10 years, the protection period will be determined by the expiry date of the intellectual property. If the filing is not renewed or the intellectual property rights are no longer protected by the customs.

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“Since 1995, the General Administration of Customs implemented a system for intellectual property with the purpose of enhanced protection. Trademark owners can benefit from this protectionism only if they submit a record of their trademarks to the General Administration of Customs.”

 

Once recorded, each time a commodity with the trademark is cleared, the trademark owner will receive a written notice from local customs confirming the authenticity of the commodity. In the situation that the trademark owner confirms that the commodity is fraudulent and not authorised by the trademark owner, customs will seize the goods immediately.

 

Benefits of Recording Your Trademark

  • Copycats are deterred from stealing your IP.
  • Registering your trademark provides enhanced protection against counterfeit or infringing products. The system ensures that infringing products are discovered promptly, allowing sufficient time for investigation and action.
  • Customs all over China can be included in the scope of supervision.
  • Your brand is protected.
  • Fake products are less likely to reach your market and be sold in competition to your own.
  • The scope of protectionism is extensive as customs all over the country can be involved in detaining infringing products. Therefore, this level of protectionism can deter the frequency of infringement attempts in the future.

 

How to Record Your Trademark With Customs?

Step 1: Submit materials to the General Administration of Customs for acceptance.
Step 2: Upon acceptance, the General Administration of Customs will begin to examine the materials.
Step 3: Once examined, the trademark filing process has successfully been completed.

 

How Long Does Trademark Recording Take?

The whole process of recording your trademark with Chinese Customs will take 2-3 months.

Click the button below to arrange a free consultation to talk through the steps you can take to protect your intellectual property in China.

 

OUR PROMISES

 

Doing business with HONGDA is getting a share in our know-how, expertise and dedication. Our determination leaves our customers with peace in mind, as they know our passion and strive for perfection in all that we do.

To ensure that we keep pushing the boundaries of what our market can expect, we relentlessly strive for increased benefits of doing business with HONGDA. To declare our efforts, our daily work is based on 4 tangible, practical promises to our customers - and just as much to ourselves.

TREADEMARK REGISTRATION PROCEDURE

OUR WORKING PROCESS

01.

Consultation & Proposal

We (can) advise you on the best solution for your business model and send you our comprehensive proposal.

02.

Signing & Payment

After reviewing the proposal, we sign the service contract and receive your payment.

03.

Preparing Documents

We send you an application form as well as the list of documents we need from your side.

04.

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WHAT CLIENTS ARE SAYING

Sound United

Jack Peng
Sound United Vice President > Asia Pacific

Sound United is the leading designer and manufacturer of consumer audio products in the US. Sound United has been using Hongda since 2013. Moving one’s operation to China is not a small task, But Hongda’s expert services helped us set up a company and deal with tax issues so we could get on with growing our business in no time at all, and that’s why we continue to use them today.

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Business service Guidance

Hongda Business Services helps foreign businesses looking to establish in the PRD (Pearl River Delta, Guangdong), Shanghai and Hong Kong take advantage of everything that China has to offer. We typically work with companies in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.
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FAQS

Is there any filing fee required for intellectual property filing to the customs?

No. According to Announcement No. 51 of 2015 of the General Administration of Customs, if you request intellectual property protection filing by online application from November 1, 2015, the General Administration of Customs will suspend the filing of charges.

Does an intellectual property rights owner need to submit a separate application for each intellectual property right for registration?

Yes. The intellectual property right holder shall submit a separate application for each intellectual property right to be registered and filed with the customs.

After the registered situation of the intellectual property rights changes, do I need to apply for change or cancellation to the General Administration of Customs?

If the filing status changes, you should report to the customs for change or cancellation to avoid any commercial loses. If the intellectual property registration situation changes, the intellectual property right holder shall go through the registration change or cancellation procedures with the General Administration of Customs within 30 working days from the date of change.

The intellectual property registration has been revoked by the customs. Can I still register it again?

After the General Administration of Customs cancels the registration, if the intellectual property right holder re-applies for the registration of the canceled intellectual property within one year from the date of cancellation, the General Administration of Customs may not accept the application.

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