CBP Proposes to Begin Disclosing Details of Imported Counterfeit Merchandise that Has Been Voluntarily Abandoned to Registered Trademark Owners

On August 27th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register to amend Sections 127 and 133 of the Customs Regulations to permit the notify trademark owners, whose trademarks have been registered with the Patent and Trademark Office and recorded with CBP, when imported, counterfeit merchandise has been voluntarily abandoned. This would allow CBP to disclose details about abandoned infringing goods in the same manner that it currently discloses information about seized goods. In these cases, CBP proposes to disclose the following data elements if it is determined that such disclosure will assist in CBP’s trademark enforcement efforts:

• Date of importation;
• Port of entry;
• Description of the merchandise;
• Quantity of the merchandise;
• Country of origin of the merchandise;
• Name and address of the manufacturer;
• Name and address of the exporter; and
• Name and address of the importer.

Interested parties may submit comments on the proposed rule on or before October 28, 2019 via the online Federal eRulemaking Portal (http://www.regulations.gov) or by mail to: Trade and Commercial Regulations, Office of Trade, Regulations and Rulings, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 90 K Street NE, 10th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20229-1177.

For further details see 84 Federal Register 44790 (August 27, 2019) at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/08/27/2019-18317/disclosure-of-information-regarding-abandoned-merchandise.

If you have any questions relating to the intellectual property rights (IPR) protection afforded by CBP to imported merchandise, recordation of IPR with CBP, or other Customs-related issues, please contact Melissa Proctor (melissa@millerproctorlaw.com) at Miller Proctor Law PLLC (https://millerproctorlaw.com ).