Case No.1: Beijing Customs seized fake electronic products of several brands for export transshipment through postal channels

1. Case information
From June to December in 2009, the General Administration of Customs of China (the GACC) deployed a "Special Campaign for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in the Postal and Express Channels" (hereinafter called the "Special Campaign") involving all the Customs houses throughout China. In light of the uniform deployment made by the GACC, and based on their practice and experience in law enforcement concerning the protection of intellectual property rights (hereinafter called "IP rights" or "IPR") for the postal and express mail services over the years, Beijing Customs worked out the measures of "9 Items under Strict Inspection" relating to the postal and luggage channels and took initiative actions to ensure the effectiveness of the Special Campaign. On July 20, 2009, the Customs Office in Post Office stationed by Beijing Customs received a consignment of express mails transferred from an inland customs district for export. According to the details of the express mails, this consignment of express mails included 75 boxes, with each weighed at 30 kg, and the destinations were distributed in 10 countries in South America and Europe. The declared product names were digital accessories, parts and components, digital cards and electronic fittings. According to the provisions of the "9 Items under Strict Inspection", the Customs officers decided immediately to open and inspect the boxes under this consignment of express mails. They found the actual goods were electronic products including mobile phones, memory cards for games, USB flash disks, and computer memory chips, as well as various electronic accessories and trademark labels and tags, totaling to 54,762 pieces, which were under suspicion of infringing 12 brands. Upon investigation, Beijing Customs affirmed that the above-mentioned articles were infringing goods, and disposed of them in accordance with the law. In view of the high value involved in this case, Beijing Customs notified the public security organ of the information relevant to this case for subsequent handling.
2. Recommendation reasons
The "Special Campaign for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in the Postal and Express Channels" was a nationwide campaign deployed by the GACC, focusing on cracking down on illegal activities of importing and exporting infringing commodities in small parts via postal and express delivery services. During the period of Special Campaign, the Customs throughout China seized 37,000 parcels (8 times of that in 2008)with infringing articles to be imported and exported, with a value of over RMB 60 million (5 times of that in 2008), effectively curbing infringement activities relating to postal and express delivery services. This case involves large quantity of infringing goods at high value and under multiple brands. The criminals took conventional measures such as transport in small parts, scattered delivery, and concealment of the real name and address to avoid customs supervision. They also attempted to complete clearance procedures by transferring the goods between Customs and other means such as making declaration at night and avoiding X-ray inspection by the Customs by using tinfoil packaging. All their tricks were covered in the measure of "9 Items under Strict Inspection" summarized by Beijing Customs. This case sets a good model as it specifies the key aspects of law enforcement relating to postal and express delivery services by the Customs to ensure the efficiency and accuracy of law enforcement.

Case No.2: Qingdao Customs seized counterfeit bearing blocks with the trademark of "FK" to be exported
1. Case information
On January 19, 2009, an import and export company in Jining (hereinafter called the "Company in Jining") declared to Yantai Customs House subordinated to Qingdao Customs for export of 21,345 bearing blocks with ball bearings under the mode of ordinary trade to the Philippines. Upon verification of the declaration form, the customs officers believed this batch of goods took on the features of infringing goods, and they decided to have the goods under surveillance. After inspection, they found that the goods were labeled with the logo of "FK", which was suspected of infringing the exclusive right to use the trademark of "FK" registered by Fujian Nan'an Bearing Co., Ltd. with the GACC. They also found through investigation that the Company in Jining obtained the authorization from another company that owned the registered trademark "FK". However, bearings were not included in the commodities approved for use of the "FK" mark, and the trademark was in the process of review of adjudication on objection. Therefore, the parties concerned had debates on whether the good infringed the IPR. During the inspection, the Customs organized the parties concerned to cross-examine the evidence, collected and referred to relevant evidences for several times, and entrusted relevant inspection agency to conduct authentication, and ultimately identified the goods to be exported as infringing goods in accordance with the law. They decided to confiscate the goods and fine the infringing company. During the handling of the case, the Company in Jining filed an administrative reconsideration with Qingdao Customs twice and an administrative lawsuit with the Yantai Intermediate People's Court once with respect to the specific administrative actions such as detention and administrative penalties taken by Yantai Customs House. However, as the Customs officers had made enough efforts in every aspect, the administrative reconsideration and the case against the lawsuit on administrative compensation filed by the Company in Jining were settled successfully.
In the process of handling this case, Qingdao Customs keenly realized the infringement trend in the bearing industry as reflected. Considering the export of bearings at ports in Shandong, the Customs launched a special campaign against infringement bearings. In 2009, Qingdao Customs detected 15 cases involving exports of infringing bearings in modes of ocean and air transport, which increased by 6.5 folds. They seized about 300,000 sets of infringing bearings with the total value reaching nearly RMB 2 million, effectively rectifying the trade order concerning import and export of bearings at Qingdao Customs.
2. Recommendation reasons
This case is complex as there was great controversy over the infringement facts between the parties concerned. Upon completion of the procedures including holding of hearings, investigation and acquisition of evidence, and entrustment of authentication, the Customs ascertained the facts and disposed of the case in accordance with the law to solve the dispute between the parties concerned properly, which showed their high level of law enforcement. During the handling of the case, the Customs keenly realized the infringement trend in the bearing industry, conducted in-depth investigation and specific enforcement activities, and regulated the trade order in the entire industry, which fully illustrated the Customs' concept of "investigating and handling one case for regulation of an industry" on law enforcement.

Case No.3: Xiamen Customs seized fake mosquito coils under the trademark of "Chrysanthemum" to be exported
1. Case information
On May 12, 2009, a trading company in Xiamen declared to Xiamen Customs for export of 579,780 packages of mosquito coils to Togo in Africa under the mode of ordinary trade. As at a special training class on independent IPR they held in April of the same year, Xiamen Customs was informed by the IPR representative of Zhongshan Lanju Daily Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd. (hereinafter called "Lanju Company") in Guangdong Province that some infringing goods might be exported to African countries via ports in Xiamen, and the brand of the goods were not declared and the authorization document was not provided, the customs officers noticed the doubtful points quickly. They conducted the risk analysis immediately and had the goods under surveillance. After opening the container, the inspection officers found that 435,360 packages of mosquito coils were marked with the graphics of chrysanthemum on their external surfaces, which was registered for IPR protection at the GACC by Lanju Company, although there was no Chinese logo of Lanju Company on those packages; and the appearance of the remaining 144,420 packages was similar to the appearance of the package (for mosquito coils) of Lanju Company. By applying the product features of and the method for identifying true Lanju mosquito coils acquired at the said training class, the inspection officers determined that this batch of mosquito coils was under distinct suspicion of IPR infringement, and requested the regulations section to contact the right holder for identification. On May 14, Lanju Company sent a letter to the Customs, confirming that this batch of goods was infringing products, and requested customs protection. After this case, the customs officers conducted careful risk analysis again based on the information they acquired relevant to the manufacturer, the route for export and importers, took proactive actions, deployed close monitoring, and achieved another success in seizing 450,000 and 149,100 packages of mosquito coils declared for export by an import and export company in Ningbo and an import and export company in Xiamen respectively under suspicion of infringing the design patent for the package (for mosquito coils) possessed by Lanju Company. In the above-mentioned three cases, 1,178,880 packages of coils were seized, with a total value of about RMB 870,000.
2. Recommendation reasons
This case is typical as it was detected after Xiamen Customs gave full play to the training on IPR enforcement, strengthened the cooperation with the right holders, conducted risk analysis actively and deployed the monitoring on their own initiative. The fact that the customs officers seized infringing goods merely one month after receiving the relevant training has fully indicated the positive effects of trainings on IPR enforcement. During the investigation of this case, the customs officers further studied the information obtained from the detected case, and discovered another two cases suspected of infringing the patent rights, which reflected  the customs enforcement officers' strong sense of responsibility and devotion to the job. The detection of this case helped protect the legal rights and interests of the enterprise. It is reported that Lanju Company is the world's largest manufacturer specializing in producing and selling sanitary articles for household use and insecticidal products, and its products take up a large share in the African market. However, the quantity of pirated "Lanju" mosquito coils in Africa in 2008 exceeded 10 folds of the total export volume of Lanju Company, which caused a loss of over RMB 200 million on sale to Lanju Company. Thanks to the detection of the above-mentioned cases, the market share of the genuine Lanju mosquito coils in Africa increased by 15% in 2009; and meanwhile, the international reputation of the products were maintained and the share in the international market was regained.

Case No.4: Gongbei Customs waged the "Spring Wind" special campaign on protection of independent IP rights and detected a series of infringement cases
1. Case information
In 2009, against the backdrop of increasingly grave economic situation in China and in the world, Gongbei Customs exerted much efforts to implement the working decision and deployment of "expanding domestic needs to stimulate economic growth" made by the Central Government and the GACC, formulated and issued the Five Moves of Gongbei Customs Concerning the Implementation of the Ten Measures for Promoting Economic Growth and Strengthen the Efforts on the Customs Protection of Independent IP Rights, and waged a special campaign named "Spring Wind" on the protection of independent IP rights within the Customs district commencing from January 1, 2009 and lasting 5 months. During the "Spring Wind" special campaign, based on the extensive survey on status of independent IP rights owned by enterprises, Gongbei Customs input much effort to instruct the enterprises with independent IP right within the Customs district to apply to the GACC for IPR recordation, so as to crack down on fake products and protect their rights by virtue of the Customs' administrative enforcement; and on the other hand, the Customs took the initiative to establish a daily communication mechanism with some enterprises with high brand recognition and large import and export volume, so as to exchange clues and information on infringements timely and jointly improve the effectiveness and accuracy of the activities against infringement. Meanwhile, they also vigorously popularized the application of risk analysis and other technical means to IPR protection. According to the actual conditions within the Customs district, they listed clothing, shoes and hats, small household appliances, small hardware products, and printing supplies as major commodities under monitoring, strengthened the supervision over key ports where exports of infringing goods often occurred and major lines to Europe, the USA, Japan and the Middle East, focused on monitoring and imposed severe punishments relating to illegal activities of infringing domestic independent IP rights via freight transport and postal services. Such actions of the Customs were fruitful. During the 'Spring Wind" special operation, the Customs detected 176 cases involving IPR infringements and a value of over RMB 5.57 million. The two figures increased by 117.3% and 23.5% respectively compared with those in the same period of 2008. In January 2009, the Customs discovered that the copper ball locks declared for export by a commercial company in Zhongshan City infringed the exclusive right to use the trademark "MAXIM". It is the first case involving infringement of independent IPR detected in 2009, and a success of the Customs in their strengthened protection of domestic independent IP rights in 2009. In May 2009, upon the application of a domestic right holder surnamed Tu, Gongbei Customs detained in accordance with the law 28,002 set-top boxes for digital TV declared for export by a company in Zhuhai City under the suspicion of infringing the design patent right owned by the right holder, with a value of RMB3,667,900. The previously mentioned case is the largest one under suspicion of infringing independent IPR detected by Gongbei Customs in recent years, with the value reaching a record high.
In addition to crackdown on infringements, Gongbei Customs also paid attention to constantly expanding and enriching the contents of IPR customs protection, vigorously help enterprises with independent IP rights within the Customs district to make their self-owned bands well-known, and provide services for enterprises in respects of independent innovation and exploration of international markets, which achieved good results. The specific activities are described as follows. First, the Customs held symposiums with enterprises holding independent IP rights to learn their status of development and difficulties and problems in respect of IPR customs protection, and selected 20 enterprises within the Customs district to provide them with timely assistance and active service in respects of registration for IPR customs protection, policy guidance, legal consultancy, pre-approval service and crackdown on infringement activities. During the special campaign, 31 IP rights were newly recorded at the Customs offices with Gongbei Customs District. Second, the Customs held special trainings on IPR protection in enterprises such as Gree Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai and TCL Air Conditioner (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd., providing timely legal guidance for enterprises to carry out legal production and export. And third, in order to help enterprises holding independent IPR rights within the Customs district better protect their rights, Gongbei Customs closely watched the situation of IPR infringements relating to those enterprises in other Customs districts, actively assisted enterprises suffering severe infringements, enhanced the communications and exchanges with the Customs at the place of entry and exit of the infringing goods. The Customs succeeded in detecting two infringement cases in other Customs districts, showing their positive role in protecting the independent IP rights held by enterprises in the Customs district.
2. Recommendation reasons
Against the backdrop of ongoing extension of international financial crisis, Gongbei Customs made use of the "Spring Wind" special campaign on protection of independent IP rights, specified the key aspects of law enforcement, expanded the forms and approaches of cooperation in law enforcement, and focused on combating against illegal activities of infringement upon domestic independent IP rights, in order to provide strong support via IPR protection for enterprises holding IP rights and local economic development. This case fully demonstrates the importance role of Customs in the national IPR protection system.

Case No.5: Shanghai Customs seized the toothbrushes infringing the exclusive right to use the logo of "Shanghai World Expo mascot" to be exported
1. Case information
On June 2, 2009, a trading company in Shenzhen declared to Shanghai Customs for export of a batch of toothbrushes to Cambodia. When verifying the documents, the Customs officers noticed some doubtful points after careful risk analysis: first, if a trading company in Shenzhen exported toothbrushes from ports in Shanghai, there should be a risk of purchasing documents for export; second, toothbrushes was historically a type of commodity with high risk of infringement according to the data on infringing goods seized by Shanghai Customs, and this batch of goods under declaration was in large quantity, and thus there was high risk; and third, according to the past experience, the destination of the goods fell into the region with high risk of infringement. Considering all the above factors, the Customs officers decisively ordered to have the batch of goods under surveillance with the "brand to be verified". On June 3, Shanghai Customs inspected this batch of goods. After opening the containers, they found on the external packages of the toothbrushes there were the logo of "JAGA" and the graphic of Haibao, the Shanghai World Expo mascot. According to the knowledge they obtained from past trainings, the officers knew that the logo of the mascot was recorded in the recordation system of the GACC, and listed in the customs protection list of Expo logos. In addition, this batch of toothbrushes was of poor quality. Upon checking, there were 30,000 toothbrushes in total in the containers at the value of over RMB 26,000. After confirmed by the right holder the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, this batch of toothbrushes was infringing goods. The Customs decided according to the law to impose administrative penalties on the party concerned by confiscating the infringing goods with a fine of RMB 3,000.
2. Recommendation reasons
This case is the first case under suspicion of infringing the exclusive right to use the logo of "Shanghai World Expo mascot" detected by the China Customs system. In recent years, Shanghai Customs have input more efforts into publicity and training concerning the exclusive logos for the World Expo and formulated the operation plan for the relevant IPR customs protection, so as to enhance the effectiveness of law enforcement. The detection of this case will serve as a warning to many import and export enterprises as well as the exhibitors and visitors of the World Expo, which will play a positive role in protecting the exclusive right to use the Expo logos and purifying the Expo environment.

Case No. 6: Huangpu Customs seized fake daily chemical products under several brands
1. Case information
In August 2009, Huangpu Customs House was informed that a batch of fake daily chemical products would be exported from Laogang Customs subordinated to it. On August 21, after commanding the exact information concerning the fake daily chemical products, the relevant officers of Huangpu Customs rushed to the supervision site and targeted 3 containers that might contain suspect infringing goods. Upon thorough inspection of the goods, they seized 66,010 bottles of shampoo under suspicion of infringing 3 brands, namely, "SUNSLIK", "PALMOLIVE", and "Head & Shoulders". After checking the suspect infringing goods, the Customs notified the right holders to assist in confirming the fact that the goods were infringing goods; and on the other hand, they set up a special case group to deploy the relevant work on exploring the source of the infringement. Upon investigation, they learnt that there might be some infringing goods still stored in a warehouse in Baiyun District, Guangzhou and some to be exported from Shenzhen Customs, so they contacted the relevant departments to carry out joint enforcement. With assistance from the Customs, the Office of the Leading Group for Rectifying and Regulating the Market Order of Guangzhou City sealed off the relevant warehouse subsequently and seized about 600,000 pieces of infringing daily chemical products; and Shenzhen Customs seized 4 containers of infringing daily chemical products. The Customs disclosed a scheme of "shipping and exporting the infringing goods in batches from various places at different time".
2. Recommendation reasons
This case is a successful model of the collaboration in law enforcement between different customs and between customs and other law enforcement agencies. Based on the clues obtained from the detected infringement case, the Customs rooted out the source of the infringement, and through various cooperation mechanisms for law enforcement, they accomplished in exposing the conspiracy of offenders who attempted to take advantage of the weak links to export infringing goods.

Case No. 7: Guangzhou Customs seized counterfeit  watches under multiple famous brands to be exported
1. Case information
On September 29, 2009, a company in Shenzhen declared to the Chancheng Office of Foshan Customs subordinated to Guangzhou Customs for export of a batch of goods including polished tiles to Ghana. When verifying the documents, the on-site customs officers believed this consignment of goods was exposed to high risk of IPR infringement: first, according to the risk warnings against infringement released by Guangzhou Customs, there should be high risks in case of exporting the infringing commodities purchased from the local market and hidden in the goods of trading companies in other places to African countries, and in this case, the consignment of goods declared was polished tiles placed in 3 containers, and there was a high possibility of hiding infringing commodities in them; second, based on past experience, the country of trade for this batch of goods was a country with high infringement risks; and third, the goods were in large quantity and declared just before the National Day holiday, which was under the suspicion of completing customs clearance procedures by taking advantage of holidays. Therefore, the customs officers ordered to have this consignment of goods under surveillance to verify whether there was any infringing commodity hidden in them. It was found through scanning this consignment of goods with the inspection equipment for large-sized containers H986 that in the front and middle part of the container there were metal articles of high density. Upon overall inspection of the containers, the officers found that the hidden goods were 151,703 watches and 1,439 pieces of clothes and daily life articles, of which 67,800 watches were marked with the logos of 20-odd internationally well-known brands including "BALCARI", "CASIO", "GUCCI", "LV" and "OMEGA" registered with the GACC, and 75,223 watches with about 60 trademarks not registered with the GACC and 8,680 watches without brands. Guangzhou Customs detained according to the application of the right holders the 63,670 watches infringing the trademark rights registered with the GACC and the 1,439 pieces of infringing clothes, and disposed of the remaining watches jointly with the local administration for industry and commerce.
2. Recommendation reasons
The case is typical in that the Customs employed the risk management means to successfully seize the infringing goods. Although the goods declared by the enterprise were ordinary major commodities, and the infringing commodities were hidden skillfully, the Customs successfully unveiled this case by using the risk warnings and the high-tech inspection equipment and on strength of the sharp eyes of officers at the site. The detection and handling of this case is also attributed to the collaboration in law enforcement between the Customs and the police departments and the industry and commerce authorities, showing the determination of all law enforcement departments on building a "steel great wall" to protect IP rights.

Case No.8: Ningbo Customs seized counterfeit goods under multiple brands to be exported
1. Case information
In late May of 2009, at the Clearance Center of Beilun Customs subordinated to Ningbo Customs, the customs officers verifying documents for outbound goods found through analyzing the feedbacks on inspections over declaration forms for goods under surveillance, that the goods for export declared by a customs broker in Ningbo were seized for several times due to IPR infringements and lack of documents, and the customs broker might be a brokerage firm engaging in declaring "problematic goods". Therefore, it was decided after discussion that the goods declared by the customs broker should be major targets under monitoring. On May 26 and 27, all six batches of goods declared by the customs broker for export on behalf of a company in Shenzhen were under surveillance for inspection. Upon inspection, it was found that the six batches of goods contained a large quantity of infringing commodities. After checking, about 600,000 pieces of infringing goods in total were discovered, falling into 14 categories including sneakers, sportswear, DVD players, mobile phones, earphones, radios, watches, eye glasses, underwear, handbags, clothes, silk scarves, belts and batteries, and involving 60 items of trademark rights related to "ADIDAS, JVC, NOKIA, Nike Swoosh (graphics), CASIO, Christian Dior, GIANNI VERSACE (graphics), LV and the graphics and ROLEX", with a value reaching nearly RMB 2 million. After contacting the relevant right holders for confirmation, all the aforesaid goods were fake commodities. In view of the large quantity of goods and the high value involved in this case, the Customs paid special attention to collecting and keeping documentary and physical evidence as well as recording the information on relevant persons. They quickly informed the local police of the case clues. The local police started to investigate the case promptly, summoned and detained the 3 suspects. Currently, the police have completed the investigation into this case.
2. Recommendation reasons
This case fully reflects that the IPR enforcement officers of the Customs have rich work experience and excellent competence to analyze risks. Based on the comprehensive analysis of all the records of export declared by the customs broker, the enforcement officers found a significant risk of infringement, and tracked the exports declared by the "problematic" customs broker, decisively deployed the monitoring and inspection, and captured the "big fish" with one action, which makes those illegal firms that attempt to declare "problematic goods" to obtain illegal profits find nowhere to survive.

Case No. 9: Hangzhou Customs seized counterfeit  spark plugs under the "AUTOLITE" brand to be exported
1. Case information
In October 2009, Yiwu Customs detected three cases involving infringing auto and motorcycle accessories in one month in succession. According to the investigation results of the three cases, the Monitoring and Inspection Section and the IPR Section of Yiwu Customs comprehensively analyzed the risk information and monitoring and inspection results, summarized the risk parameters, and worked out and provided specific suggestions on monitoring over infringing auto and motorcycle accessories for the section responsible for document verification. On November 6, 2009, an import and export company in Shenzhen declared to Yiwu Customs subordinated to Hangzhou Customs for export of unlabeled motorcycle accessories including locks, headlamps and rearview mirrors, and the port of destination was Yemen. After risk analysis, the Customs officers thought there were two doubtful points concerning this batch of goods as follows. First, the enterprise went round the sun to meet the moon, inevitably increasing the operating costs. The exporter was in Shenzhen, a city with better port conditions and more ocean lines. With respect to operating costs, there is no necessity for any local enterprise in Shenzhen to transport its goods to Yiwu for export without any justified reasons. Thus, the aforesaid exporter's action indicated the high possibility of taking advantage of exporting small commodities to avoid declaration and conceal some goods. Second, the operator, the declarer unit, and the country of destination all were with high risk of infringement. The operator and the declarer unit had bad records of exporting infringing goods at the Customs, and Yemen was a country to which infringing goods were often exported. Therefore, the Customs determined that this consignment of goods was under suspicion of infringement, and ordered to have the goods under surveillance immediately. The Customs also required the inspection officers to carefully inspect and verify the name, quantity and brand of the goods. On November 9, the flexible inspection teams inspected the goods according to the order of surveillance. Before the containers were opened, the owner of the goods actively admitted that there were major misstatements concerning this consignment of goods, which was uncharacteristic of the owner, and claimed that most of the goods were fragile, requesting the officers to cut down on the proportion of containers opened to reduce losses. The inspection officers keenly sensed the owner's abnormal behavior, solemnly refused its request and conducted the carpet inspection. After opening over 100 cartons, the officers at last found the infringing spark plus with a volume of less than two cubic meters in the container which actually held about 40 types of goods. After checking, there were 31,392 spark plugs in total. Upon investigation, this case occurred as the criminals outside China intentionally concealed the product name, hid the infringing goods and delivered them at risk for obtaining interests although they knew about the infringement. According to the investigation, the Customs confirmed that this batch of goods infringed the trademark rights concerning "AUTOLITE", and imposed administrative penalties of confiscating the infringing goods with a fine on the parties concerned.
2. Recommendation reasons
Yiwu Customs House is the first local subordinate customs that established an IPR section in China. Since the commencement of operation in July 2009, within l half a year, the Customs succeeded in detection of a series of cases involving import and export of infringing goods through innovating the methods of risk analysis, organizing and building flexible inspection teams and improving the model of subsequent disposal, and played an important role in cracking down on the illegal activities involving import and export of infringing goods in the Yiwu market and maintaining the reputation of the market in the world. After investigation and handling of this case, on the principle of "investigating and handling one typical case to educate an entire industry", Yiwu Customs made great efforts in publicizing and demonstrating the achievements relating IPR customs protection by virtue of the media including TV, the Internet, and the newspaper, so as to expand the social influence. After media reports, Yiwu Customs have not found any export of infringing auto or motorcycle accessories yet, and the market environment has been effectively improved.

Case No. 10: Shenzhen Customs seized counterfeit drugs under several trademarks to be exported
1. Case information
On January 3, 2009, a company in Jieyang City entrusted a freight forwarder in Shenzhen City to declare with Shekou Customs subordinated to Shenzhen Customs for export of 1,026 computer cases at a declare price of USD 18,262.8 to Egypt. The container was twenty feet long. Based on risk analysis, the Customs thought that there were the following doubtful points. First, the destination was a place with frequent occurrence of infringement activities. The declaration form indicated that the batch of goods was exported to Egypt, a port of call with high infringement risks along the Mediterranean lines according to the past experience. Many infringement cases detected in recent years by the Customs involved Egypt as the country of destination. Second, the place of origin was one of major manufacturing areas for infringing goods. The operator, the company in Jieyang City was a stranger company located in the place where illegal cases involving fake drugs frequently occurred. Third, the freight forwarder entrusted (the customs broker) had illegal records of exporting infringing products at the Customs according to the information in the relevant database. And fourth, there was abnormality concerning the goods declared and the relevant containers. Although it was common to export computer cases from Shekou Port, the goods were usually put in 40-foot-long containers rather than 20-foot-long ones. Based on the above analysis, the Customs determined that this consignment of goods showed some suspicion of infringement, and made a Level B inspection instruction, requiring the inspection department to verify the product name, quantity and brand of the goods. After opening one container, the inspection officers saw in the front part of the container were stacked cartons of computer cases in order, which blocked people's vision to see the goods behind. The officers were not cheated by such a trick, but continued to unload the goods for inspection. After unloading the first three rows of computer cases, they found cosmetics products. The inspection department immediately decided to raise the inspection level to Level A and carry out thorough inspection over the said container. Finally they identified that except for a small quantity of computer cases and cosmetics products, all the remaining goods were drugs and the corresponding packages, instructions and labels. The quantity of drugs was about 3 million pills, and the drugs infringed world-known trademarks including "VIAGRA" of Pfizer, "LEVITRA" of Bayer, and "PANADOL" of Smith Kline Beecham PLC. Upon field confirmation by the representatives of relevant right holders, this batch of drugs all were infringing products with poor quality despite the "excellent" appearance. After detection of this case, Shenzhen Customs immediately reported the relevant information to the GACC. The GACC paid special attention to this case and notified the Ministry of Public Security of the relevant clues. Currently, this case is investigated by the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Security.
2. Recommendation reasons
This case sets a model as it is successfully settled by the Customs with integrated use of relevant information and specific risk analysis in IPR law enforcement. The Customs integrated factors such as the country of destination, domestic origin of products, illegal records of the company and the means of transport into the risk management, captured the doubtful points from slight signs, adjusted the inspection direction as appropriate, and eventually succeeded in seizing a huge quantity of counterfeit drugs. This case has fully shown the professional sensitiveness and ability to conduct risk analysis of the law enforcement officers of the Customs.