SUBREGIONAL CAPACITY-BUILDING CONFERENCE ON ECONOMIC ASPECTS AND

ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

09 - 10 November 2011

Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL

PROPERTY RIGHTS PROPERTY RIGHTS –– BORDER BORDER

MEASURESMEASURES

NATIONAL CUSTOMS AUTHORITYROMANIA

LEGAL INTERNATIONAL PROVISIONS

•TRIPS AGREEMENT-Annex 1C of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, signed in Marrakesh, Morocco on 15 April 1994.

PART III – ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Section 4 – Special requirements related to border measures

LEGAL INTERNATIONAL PROVISIONS

(CONT.)Definitions:• Counterfeit goods:(a) “counterfeit trademark goods” shall mean

any goods, including packaging, bearing without authorization a trademark which is identical to the trademark validly registered in respect of such goods, or which cannot be distinguished in its essential aspects from such a trademark, and which thereby infringes the rights of the owner of the trademark in question under the law of the country of importation;

• (b) “pirated copyright goods” shall mean any goods which are copies made without the consent of the right holder or person duly authorized by the right holder in the country of production and which are made directly or indirectly from an article where the making of that copy would have constituted an infringement of a copyright or a related right under the law of the country of importation. Back to text

LEGAL INTERNATIONAL PROVISIONS

(CONT.)

• Art.51 – Suspension of release by customs authorities

• Art.52 – Application

•Art. 53 – Security or equivalent assurance

•Art. 54 – Notice of suspension

•Art. 55 – Duration of suspension

LEGAL INTERNATIONAL PROVISIONS

(CONT.)

•Art. 56 – Indemnification of the importer and of the owner of the goods

•Art.57 – Right of inspection and information

•Art. 58 – Ex officio action•Art. 59 – Remedies•Art. 60 – De minimis imports

LEGAL EUROPEAN PROVISIONS

• Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 concerning customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed such rights

• Commission Regulation (EC) No 1891/2004 of 21 October 2004 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 concerning customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed such rights

Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 concerning customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed such rights

• Replace the old EU Council Regulation (EC) No 3295/94 of 22 December 1994 laying down measures to prohibit the release for free circulation, export, re-export or entry for a suspensive procedure of counterfeit and pirated goods

• Customs authorities are able to take action against counterfeit goods, pirated goods and goods infringing certain intellectual propertyrights which are in the process of being exported, re-exported or leaving the Community customs territory

• Even where no application has yet been lodged or approved, the Member States are authorised to detain the goods for a certain period to allow right-holders to lodge an application for action with the customs authorities

Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 (Cont.)

• Introduce provisions concerning a more flexible procedure allowing goods infringing certain intellectual property rights to be destroyed without there being any obligation to initiate proceedings to establish whether an intellectual property right has been infringed under national law (“simplified procedure”)

• Introduce the possibility of increasing the number of intellectual property rights covered by the Regulation

• Harmonised form of application for customs action and procedure in all EU Member States

• The right-holder is not charged a fee to cover the administrative costs occasioned by the processing of the application

Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 – Application for action

• The application for action shall be made out on a form established in accordance with the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1891/2004 of 21 October 2004 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 and it must contain all the information needed to enable the goods in question to be readily recognised by the customs authorities, and in particular:

• (i) an accurate and detailed technical description of the goods;• (ii) any specific information the right-holder may have concerning

the type or pattern of fraud;• (iii) the name and address of the contact person appointed by the

right-holder.• The application for action must also contain the declaration

required of the applicant by Article 6 and proof that the applicant holds the right for the goods in question.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 – Application for action

By way of indication and where known, right-holders should also forward any other information they may have, such as:

• (a) the pre-tax value of the original goods on the legitimate market in the country in which the application for action is lodged;

• (b) the location of the goods or their intended destination;• (c) particulars identifying the consignment or packages;• (d) the scheduled arrival or departure date of the goods;• (e) the means of transport used;• (f) the identity of the importer, exporter or holder of the goods;• (g) the country or countries of production and the routes used by

traffickers;• (h) the technical differences, if known, between the authentic and

suspect goods.

WHAT WE NEED TO BE EFFECTIVE?

•APPROPRIATE STRUCTURE

• TOOLS

• TRAINED CUSTOMS STAFF

• CO-OPERATION WITH:� IP RIGHT HOLDERS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS

� ALL NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES INVOLVED IN IPR ENFORCEMENT

04/14/10 13

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

NATIONAL CUSTOMS AUTHORITYVICE-PRESIDENT

LegalDirectorate

Directorate Human Resources, GeneralOrganisation and

Training

Directorate InformationTechnology,

CommunicationAnd Customs Statistics

Directorate Customs

Clearance Techniques

Directorate of Surveillance of

Exciseand Customs

Operations

Directorate of Surveillance of

Exciseand Customs

Operations

Directorate Budget, Investments and

Service Management

Division CustomsEuropean Integration and

International Relations

Division InternalVerifications

Division Internal Public Audit Directorate Authorisation

For Excise Goods And Customs Tariff

Directorate AuthorisationFor Excise Goods And

Customs Tariff

Division PHAREProgrammes

Implementation

Interior and BorderCustoms Offices

(46)

County Directorates for Excise And Customs Operations

(42)

Regional Directorates for Excise andCustoms Operations

(8)

14

DIRECTORATE OF SURVEILLANCE OF EXCISE AND CUSTOMS OPERATIONS

DIRECTOR

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Division of Post-Clearance

Control and Customs Fraud

Investigation

Anti-Drug andProtection of Intellectual

Property Rights Division

CustomsInformation

Center

Office ofMethodologicalCoordination ofFight Against

Customs Fraud

Mobile Team and Surveillance of Excise Goods

Division

Customs Information Centre

Regional CompartmentsFor Protection of IPR

(8)

County CompartmentsFor Protection of IPR

(42)

IPR Structure•Central level: Anti-Drug and Protection ofIntellectual Property Rights Service (3 customs officers)

• 8 Regional Customs Directorates: 13 customs officers within IPR Units

• 42 County Customs Directorates: 45 customs officers within IPR Units

• 46 Customs Offices

TOOLS - IIPR- Industrial &Intellectual

Property Rights

Information provided by the right holders in applications

Training of customs staff on IPR

enforcement

METHODS

• On the job training

• On – line training (e-learning)

• Training in the classroom

Training of customs staff on

IPR enforcement

ON THE JOB TRAINING

• More efficient

• Experienced trainer on the job

• Low human and material resources

Training of customs staff on IPR enforcementOn – line training (e-learning)Content of IPR module

Training of customs staff on

IPR enforcement

IN THE CLASSROOM• People are focused on

training process• Interaction between

participants (case studies, group exercises)

• Training a large number of employees in a short time

RESULTS?!!!

SIGNIFICANTCASES!!!

RESULTS - APPLICATIONS

2008 2009 2010

Total number of applications

533 622 688

Community applications

178 302 429

RESULTS – SEIZED GOODS

• Number of actions

• Number of seized goods

2008 2009 2010

Number of actions

406 524 615

2008 2009 2010

Number of seized goods

21.411.728 70.076.524 21.613.095

Constanta, May 2007137 272 pairs sport shoes

NIKE, PUMA, ADIDAS, REEBOK

SIGNIFICANT CASES 2011

• Date: 27.01.2011• Location: Customs

office Constanta Sud• Quantity/type of seized

goods: 4.371 pcs. belts• Infringed IPR: D&G,

LOUIS VUITTON, G-STAR, BOSS, LEVI`S

• Origine of goods:China

• Destination: Romania

SIGNIFICANT CASES 2011

• Date: 01.02.2011• Location: Customs

office Constanta Sud• Quantity/type of

seized goods: 15 250pairs of sport shoes

• Infringed IPR:Converse, NBA

• Origin of goods:China

• Destination: Republic of Moldova

SIGNIFICANT CASES 2011

• Date: 14.04.2011• Location: Customs

office Constanta Sud• Quantity/type of

seized goods: 70 075pcs. Of clothing articles

• Infringed IPR:Adidas

• Origin of goods:China

• Destination: Ukraine

WHAT IS THE MAIN CONCERN NOWADAYS?

SECURITY AND HEALTH OF CONSUMERS

WHAT IS THE MAIN CONCERN NOWADAYS?

SECURITY AND HEALTH OF CONSUMERS

• Date: 10.06.2011• Location: Internal

market• Quantity of seized

goods: 89 600 pcs. • Infringed IPR:

Pampers• Origine of goods: China

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Florica Maria PÃUNSenior adviserNational Customs AuthorityDirectorate for Excise Surveillance and Customs

OperationsAnti-Drug and Protection of Intellectual Property

Rights Service13 Matei Millo Street, District 1, 010144 Bucharest,

Romania• Tel: +40 21 319 31 81• Fax: +40 21 319 31 81• E-mail: florica.paun@customs.ro