Top 10 Cases of China Customs IPR Enforcement in 2007
06/29/2011
I. The case of Huangpu Customs seizing 300,000 pieces of export counterfeit toothpastes infringing "CLOSE UP" trademark
(I)Basic information of the case
In early July, 2007, Huangpu Customs received the reporting of Unilever Co., Ltd., claiming that two containers suspected of containing counterfeit toothpastes infringing "CLOSE UP" trademark of Unilever would be exported via Huangpu Port. After performing risk analysis, Huangpu Customs immediately adopted corresponding measures to locate the two containers bearing the codes of MSKU8058642 and MSKU9400739 in the dock. However, the infringing enterprise seemed to be aware of the measures adopted by the Customs, and have not applied for customs declaration for the two containers with Huangpu Customs up to August. In accordance with the relevant provisions, the Customs have no right to inspect and treat the goods that have not been applied for customs declaration. In order to keep the owner of the two containers from transferring the goods to other places, Huangpu Customs immediately reported the case clues to the local administration for industry and commerce in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Work Communication System of the Guangzhou Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Huangpu Customs for the Protection of Exclusive Right to Use Trademarks of Exported Commodities. With the assistance of Huangpu Customs, the Huangpu District Administration for Industry and Commerce got involved in the case in time and seized the two containers, which contained 298,730 pieces of counterfeit toothpastes infringing "CLOSE UP" trademark, with a total value of nearly RMB 1 million.
(II) Recommendation reasons
1. The Customs and the administration for industry and commerce jointly conducted an operation to crack down on counterfeit products, defeated the lawbreakers’ intention to evade legal sanction by postponing the application for customs declaration. This case represented a good cooperation mode for different law enforcement organs to work together and jointly crack down on IPR infringement.
2. After the administration for industry and commerce got involved in the case, the Customs conducted active collaboration with the related parties including the dock, customs broker, warehouse, etc., so as to ensure that the infringing goods can be accurately counted on the supervision site of the Customs, and then sent out of warehouse and successfully detained. This task fully represented the excellent work style and ability of the customs officers during IPR enforcement.
3. The quantity and value of the infringing goods seized by the Customs were great, and the Customs IPR enforcement achievement was outstanding.
II. The case of Xiamen Customs seizing export counterfeit sweat suits infringing various trademarks like "Li-Ning"
(I) Basic information of the case
On April 12, 2007, when a customs officer responsible for declaration forms examination in the Customs Clearance Division of Dongdu Customs (subordinate to Xiamen Customs District), opened the H2000 Customs Clearance Management System as usual to conduct real-time supervision on the goods to be exported in near future, the officer found out that the declaration form of a batch of clothes to be exported by a development company in Fujian Province to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is quite special. The customs officer performed a detailed analysis on the declaration form, and found out the following issues: (1) The destination of the batch of goods was the UAE, which was a destination of many infringing goods seized by Xiamen Customs District. (2) The operating unit and the forwarding unit were small-scale trade companies registered in Xiamen Customs District. Most of this kinds of companies have no self-developed brands or production capabilities, and usually engaged in the business of goods purchasing in domestic market or export through customs brokers. Therefore, the information for customs declaration of these enterprises might be false. In earlier months, the Customs strengthened their efforts on the crackdown on export of infringing goods through enterprises in other areas, so currently the lawbreakers might intend to export infringing goods through local small-scale enterprises. (3) The goods to be exported were jackets and suits, which were the goods with low requirements on production technologies and equipment, so these goods were easy to be counterfeited and were classified by Xiamen Customs District as the export goods with a high risk of IPR infringement. (4) The goods' packing list showed that this batch of clothes were packed with different specifications and had many clothes styles, so there was the risk that some infringing goods were hidden in general goods. Based on the aforesaid reasons, the customs officer on duty decided to conduct surveillance and inspection on these goods.
After receiving the inspection notice from the Customs, the owner of this batch of goods searched around for new information, and instructed the customs broker to delay customs declaration as much as possible to evade the inspection of the Customs. After knowing this situation, the Customs inspector was more suspicious about the goods for IPR infringement. On April 14, the Customs inspector opened the packages of the goods and conducted inspection, and finally seized a total of 8,406 pieces of counterfeit sweat suits infringing 9 trademarks. On May 14, Xiamen Customs made the decision on administrative penalty of confiscating the goods and imposing a fine on the goods.
(II) Recommendation reasons
1. This case was a typical case in which the Customs inspectors and declaration form examiners fully utilized the risk analysis technique to seize infringing goods.
2. The case situation was complicated, under which a total of nine trademarks were infringed, including internationally renowned brands and domestic proprietary IPRs; therefore, the case handling was very difficult.
III. The case of Shanghai Customs seizing more than 1 million pieces of export counterfeit batteries infringing "SOYO" trademark
(I) Basic information of the case
On August 12, 2007, a company based in Zhuhai city made customs declaration for exporting a batch of dry batteries to the UAE with Shanghai Customs. After performing risk analysis on the batch of goods, the customs officer responsible for declaration forms examination immediately delivered the command to conduct surveillance on the goods. On August 13, when the customs house of Shanghai Waigaoqiao port conducted an inspection on the goods, the customs officers found out that all the dry batteries among the actual import goods were labeled with the "SOYO" trademark. After querying the Customs IPR Enforcement Registration Management System of the General Administration of Customs, the customs officers found out that "SOYO" was a registered trademark owned by Shanghai Zhiwei Batteries Co., Ltd., and was approved for registration by the General Administration of Customs on August 9, 2007. Shanghai Customs immediately started the customs IPR enforcement procedure, and seized 570 boxes containing a total of over 1.09 million pieces of infringing dry batteries, with a total value of about RMB 260,000.
Shanghai Zhiwei Batteries Co., Ltd. was a private enterprise based in Shanghai. The company's main business was the production and exporting of batteries, and "SOYO" was its major brand with certain reputation in the international market. In 2006, the export volume of "SOYO" batteries produced by the company exceeded RMB 10 million. Due to the existence of counterfeit batteries, the export volume of "SOYO" batteries sharply reduced to RMB 3 million from January to September 2007. Under this circumstance, the IPR holder decided to safeguard its rights and interests through the Customs. The IPR holder was astonished that only four days after its trademark was registered with the General Administration of Customs, Shanghai Customs seized a batch of counterfeit "SOYO" batteries. Based on the case clues provided by the Customs, the IPR holder made a report to the local administration for industry and commerce, and seized a large amount of infringing batteries again in a production factory.
(II) Recommendation reasons
1. The Customs seized the counterfeit goods only four days after the trademark of the IPR holder was registered with the Customs. This result fully represented the important role of the Customs IPR registration and high efficiency of the Customs IPR enforcement.
2. Based on the clues of the infringing goods seized by the Customs on the border, a large amount of counterfeit goods was seized again in a production factory. In this way, the IPR holder obtained more benefits from customs IPR enforcement, and the IPR protection function of the Customs was fully implemented.
3. This case was a typical case for the domestic enterprises to seek Customs IPR protection for their self-developed brands.
IV. The case of Wuhan Customs seizing 170,000 pieces of export counterfeit cans infringing "Lui" trademark
(I) Basic information of the case
On December 20, 2007, a company based in Anhui Province commissioned a company based in Wuhan city to make customs declaration to Yichang Customs(subordinate to Wuhan Customs District) for 177,600 pieces (7,400 cases) of canned broad beans to be exported to the UAE. The total value of the goods declared was USD 36,260 dollars. After performing risk analysis, the Customs found out three doubtful points for the batch of goods: (1) The exporting enterprise was not located in the area of Wuhan Customs District, so this case was classified as remote application for customs declaration. (2) The canned products were in great demand in the Middle East, and the competition of different brands was fierce. Therefore, the products to be exported were regarded as the goods with a high risk of infringement. Based on the aforesaid reasons, the on-site Customs inspectors decided to perform strict inspection on the batch of goods, and successfully seized four containers of counterfeit canned broad beans infringing "Lui" trademark.
The IPR holder, Maiks International Trade Co., Ltd. in Zhangjiagang Bonded Zone, expressed their appreciation to the Customs for the seizure of the infringing goods for the first time. According to the IPR holder, the "Lui" trademark was a self-developed brand of the company, which enjoyed high reputation in the Middle East. The company had made great efforts to promote and maintain the trademark for many years. However, in recent years, many counterfeit canned broad beans produced in China emerged in the overseas market and infringed the "Lui" trademark, and thus affected the normal sales and operation of the IPR holder. The infringement case detected by Wuhan Customs at this time brought severe crackdown on the counterfeiters and provided important clues and proofs for the IPR holder to protect its rights and interests.
(II). Recommendation reasons
1. This case represented the strong awareness of IPR protection and risk analysis skills of the customs officers, which provided a good example for the IPR enforcement personnel of other inland Customs.
2. The case showed the power of the Customs IPR enforcement, and provided an effective way for domestic enterprises to develop and maintain their own brands.
3. The quantity of the seized infringing goods was great, which brought severe crackdown on the infringing enterprises.
V. The case of Hangzhou Customs successively seizing fake jewelry infringing "TIFFANY&CO" trademark in the postal channel
(I) Basic information of the case
On March 6, 2007, when the customs inspectors in the representative office of Wenzhou Customs (subordinate to Hangzhou Customs District) in a post office conducted supervision on the export mail packages, a carton box tightly wrapped by tapes drew the attention of the customs inspectors. The box was not big but very heavy, and the sender as identified on the package surface was from Binjiang Road, Guantou Village, Baixiang County, Leqing North, Wenzhou City. The destination of the package was the USA, and the name of the exported goods for customs declaration was "Handicraft". Its weight was 26.49 kg, with a total value of USD 100 dollars. The experienced customs inspectors thought that this package had a high risk of IPR infringement, because its EMS express declaration was simple, the sender address was filled in unclearly, and the destination was the USA. Therefore, the Customs inspectors immediately conducted inspection on the package. There were many plastic bags of different sizes in the package, and each bag contained different kinds of delicately made fake silver jewelry. After careful inspection, the Customs inspectors found out that there was "Tiffany & co." mark on each piece of the fake jewelry. The Customs inspectors with abundant experiences knew that this mark was an internationally famous luxury brand of Tiffany from the USA, and the brand was only available for sales in the high-end shops in Beijing and Shanghai. The lowest price of one piece of Tiffany jewelry was about USD 150 dollars in the USA. However, this small package contained a large amount of luxury silver jewelry for export through postal express, so these silver jewelry might be infringing goods. The Customs inspectors promptly conducted an investigation on the goods, and found out that this package contained a total of 2,629 pieces of jewelry which were suspected of infringing the "Tiffany & co." brand.
Soon after the investigation was started, the Customs inspectors in the post office seized again two EMS express packages sent from Liushi County, Leqing City, Wenzhou, and Gaodong Village, Baixiang County, Leqing North, Wenzhou City to the USA on March 24, 2007. The two packages respectively contained 1,370 and 1,168 pieces of silver necklaces and bracelets which were suspected of infringing the Tiffany brand. Different from the first package, the two packages also contained 980 classic green boxes, bags and color-printed jewelry catalogs of the TIFFANY&CO brand. Compared with the first package, the two packages had the same outer packing and sender's signature, and were also sent from Leqing to New York from the same post office. These clues showed that the two packages and the first package might be sent by the same person. With the cooperation of the IPR holder, the Customs detained the aforesaid three batches of infringing fake jewelry according to the law. The subsequent investigation of the Customs showed that the three packages were all taken by the sender to the post office, and the address and contact phone of the sender were forged, so the sender could not be found. In accordance with the relevant provisions, the Customs confiscated the involved infringing goods.
(II) Recommendation reasons
1. By performing risk analysis on the name, destination, sender and other factors of the goods, and based on the knowledge about commodities accumulated during routine work, The Customs inspectors identified that the seized goods were infringing goods. This provided an example for the Customs inspectors to conduct IPR enforcement in the luggage and postal channels.
2. The lawbreakers tried to send the infringing goods in different batches and forged its address and contact phone, so as to evade the Customs supervision, which meant that the illegal actions of the lawbreakers had obvious intention. The Customs seized the infringing goods of the same brand for consecutively three times in a short period, which severely cracked down on the lawbreakers' illegal actions.
VI. The case of Beijing Customs seizing inbound T-shirts infringing the exclusive right to use BEIJING 2008 Olympic symbol in the express channel
(I) Basic information of the case
On January 24, 2007, a batch of goods which was declared as documents from the USA arrived in Beijing through express. During the inspection, the Customs inspectors of the Express Division of Beijing Customs found out that this package was a carton box with the length of about 0.5m, and was not likely to contain documents as viewed from its appearance. In addition, its weight was far more than common documents, so the goods were likely to be other articles. After the Customs inspectors opened the package, they found out that the declared documents were actually T-shirts, and there were the emblem of Beijing Olympic Games and "Beijing 2008" characters printed on the front side, sleeve openings, and back side of the T-shirts. After the inspection, the Customs confirmed that the relevant characters and figures used by this batch of clothes have not obtained the authorization of Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, so these clothes were infringing goods. This batch of goods was sent from Pittsburgh of the USA, and the receiver was an employee dispatched by a company in the USA to Beijing. Although the sender declared a false name for the goods in order to evade Customs inspection, the infringing goods were seized by the Customs inspectors.
(II) Recommendation reasons
1. As the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games were coming nearer and the products relating to Olympic Games were being sold well in China market and the international market, some illegal traders might take this "rare" opportunity to produce and sell counterfeit products infringing the Olympic symbol. Therefore, the crackdown on counterfeit products infringing the Olympic symbols and the protection of relevant Olympic IPRs had become one of the major tasks in Customs IPR enforcement.
2. In this case, the infringing goods were seized in the postal channel for import, which represented a new tendency of infringing activities and shall be given much attention.
3. There were a variety of goods transported through the postal channel, and the lawbreakers declared the goods with a false name to evade Customs supervision. However, the onsite Customs inspectors in the post office conducted effective inspection and successfully seized the infringing goods, which showed the high ability of IPR enforcement of the Customs inspectors.
VII. The case of Guangzhou Customs seizing molds infringing the exclusive right to use "Fuwa" Olympic symbols carried by passenger during Customs entry
(I) Basic information of the case
In the afternoon of June 3, 2007, when the customs house in Baiyun Airport (subordinate to Guangzhou Customs District) was performing supervision on the passengers of the Airline CZ368 from Vietnam, the customs officers found out that the luggage structure of a Chinese passenger Mr. Wang was too simple, and the passenger went through the Nothing-to-declare channel without declaring any article to the Customs. In accordance with the relevant risk precautions, the onsite Customs inspectors decided to conduct key inspection on the luggage of the passenger. The inspection showed that the luggage contained a set of metal molds, including five molds for the five mascots of the 29th Olympic Games. The molds were wrapped in plastic bags, and the patterns on the molds were the five mascots (called Fuwa) of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, which could be used to manufacture plastic Fuwa in large scale. The passenger could not provide the relevant IPR authorization letter, so Guangzhou Customs confirmed with Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, and then determined that these molds infringed the exclusive right to use the Olympic symbols.
After investigation, the Customs found out that the passenger was an employee of a brand production enterprise in Zhongshan City of Guangdong Province. A branch factory of the enterprise in Ho Chi Minh City commissioned the employee to take this set of molds to the branch factory of the enterprise in Zhongshan City. Therefore, this case might contain a cross-border interest chain involving the production and sales of infringing goods. As the production factory of the molds was not located in Guangzhou Customs District, Guangzhou Customs immediately reported the case clues to the Administration for Industry & Commerce of Guangdong Province. On June 19, with the collaboration of Guangzhou Customs, the Administration for Industry & Commerce seized two sets of Fuwa molds and a batch of plastic Fuwa samples in a trademark processing factory in Zhongshan City, and found out the records showing that the factory had manufactured plastic Fuwa in large scale.
(II) Recommendation reasons
1. The Customs IPR enforcement officers effectively conducted risk analysis on the infringing goods based on the characteristics of on-site law enforcement in the passenger channel of the Customs and the hotspot problems relating to the protection of Olympic symbols, and then released the specific risk precautions and determined the inspection emphasis, which showed the high professional skills of the Customs inspectors.
2. After finding out the interest chain which might be involved in the cross-border production and sales of infringing goods, the Customs promptly started the cooperation mechanism with the local administration for industry and commerce and conducted a joint operation to crack down on the illegal activities of the factory, shaped links of crackdown on infringing activities during the production, sales, transportation, and export & import of infringing goods. In this way, the IPR infringement activities were prevented from expanding from its source.
3. This case was the first typical case of the Customs for seizing the specialized production molds infringing Olympic IPRs. After being reported by mass media, the case attracted the attention of all social circles and won the appraisal of the public.
VIII. The case of Shenzhen Customs seizing over 40,000 cartons of export counterfeit cigarettes infringing "Marlboro" trademark
(I) Basic information of the case
Under the situation that the export of counterfeit cigarettes through Shenzhen port was relatively rampant, Shenzhen Customs strengthened their IPR enforcement as of the end of 2006. On one hand, the Customs organized a three-month special campaign to crack down on the export of counterfeit cigarettes, and conducted risk analysis to supervise the suspicious enterprises. On the other hand, the Customs proactively enhanced the cooperation with the local public security authority, held joint meetings on the cooperation of IPR enforcement, and signed the Temporary Provisions on Enhancing the Cooperation Between Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau and Shenzhen Customs on the IPR Enforcement, so as to make a solid basis for the cooperation of IPR enforcement.
On December 23, 2006, Shenzhen Zhongnuo Import & Export Co., Ltd. applied for Customs declaration for the export of a batch of plastic flowers with Dapeng Customs (subordinate to Shenzhen Customs District). The destination of the goods was Hong Kong. After performing risk analysis, the Customs officers thought that the goods have the risk of IPR infringement: Firstly, the destination of the goods for Customs declaration was Hong Kong, but the actual destination was Spain, which was a major destination for export counterfeit cigarettes. Secondly, the customs broker for the goods had been seized for providing customs brokerage services for infringing goods. Thirdly, after querying the enterprise credit database, the customs officers found out that the enterprise had only two records of customs declaration in 2006, and the business operation of the enterprise was abnormal. Therefore, Dapeng Customs delivered a command to conduct surveillance over the goods and requested the inspection division to open the goods packages for inspection. After opening the goods packages, the Customs inspectors found out that two rows of carton boxes in the rear of the container contained iron pans only. However, the Customs inspectors were not misled by the iron pans. They thought that according to common sense, the enterprise did not need to forge a false name and destination in custom declaration for the export of iron pans; therefore, the iron pans might be the disguising goods. Then the Customs officers opened all the boxes, and found out that besides the 86 boxes containing iron pans, the other 901 boxes contained a total of 45,050 cartons of cigarettes with "Marlboro" trademark. After verification, these cigarettes are found to be counterfeit goods, which worth a total value of over RMB 5 million according to the market price.
After the counterfeit cigarettes were seized, Shenzhen Customs immediately reported the case clues to Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau, Yantian Sub-bureau according to the Temporary Provisions on Enhancing the Cooperation between the Ministry of Public Security and the General Administration of Customs on the IPR Enforcement. After an investigation of over six months, the police finally destroyed three locations for storage of counterfeit cigarettes and seized 1.5 million counterfeit cigarettes, more than 7,000 cases of cigarettes papers, 1,000 tons of tobacco and cigarette filter-tips, and a large amount of raw materials and tools for cigarettes production. The total value of the case reached RMB 50 million, and two major suspects were captured and the production network for counterfeit cigarettes were destroyed. According to the confession of the suspects, the raw materials involved in this case were transported to China under the organization of a Dutch. At present, the case had been transferred to the prosecution authority for investigation and lawsuit.
(II) Recommendation reasons
1. This case is a case involving the greatest value of counterfeit cigarettes and raw materials seized after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The raw materials in the case were transported into China under the organization of a foreigner, so this case was the first one involving foreign factors in the same category of infringing cases, which had such features as wide coverage, complex circumstance, concealing means, deceptive nature, etc., and represented the tendency of group participation, network collaboration, and internationalization of the production and sales of counterfeit cigarettes.
2. The Customs severely cracked down on the illegal activities of counterfeit cigarettes export. The IPR law enforcement personnel of the Customs effectively cooperated with the criminal law enforcement personnel of the public security authority and jointly destroyed the entire criminal network. In this way, the counterfeiters were prosecuted and the case won high appraisal of the society.
IX. The case of Qingdao Customs seizing different counterfeit goods infringing multiple trademarks during one operation
(I) Basic information of the case
On July 13, 2007, Shenzhen Hongweida Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd. applied for the export of a batch of women's cotton knit coats with Dagang Customs Preparatory Office in the name of general trade. The goods would be shipped to the South Korea by ocean and then transferred to the USA by air. The total quantity of 2,288 coats was applied for Customs declaration, with a total value of USD 12,126.4. The gross weight of the goods was 1,760 kg, and the net weight was 1,672 kg. All of the goods were packed in a total of 88 boxes. During the examination of the declaration form, the Customs officers found out the following issues:(1) The operating unit was a freight forwarding company based in Shenzhen City, so there was the possibility of exporting infringing goods through the selling and purchase of foreign exchange verification sheets. (2) The transportation means was doubtful. The batch of goods was mostly women's coats in large size with low value. The unit price of the coats was relatively low and the quantity was relatively great; therefore, according to common sense, the owner should select a cheaper transportation means by ocean instead of by air. Based on the above analysis, Qingdao Customs delivered a command to conduct surveillance on the goods. After inspection, the Customs officers found out that the goods were packed in a total of 88 double-layer kraft carton boxes, which were contained in plastic knit bags in the size of about 20 cubic meters. The infringing goods, including clothes, shoes, hats, cases, bags, watches, decoration articles, stationeries and medicines, were related to more than 30 internationally renowned brands. Qingdao Customs immediately seized the aforesaid goods, and promptly transferred the case clues to the Qingdao Municipal Public Security Bureau for investigation as the case value was great and the case might involve criminal law violation. During the investigation of the public security authority, Qingdao Customs closely cooperated with the local police station and proactively conducted the counting, photographing and sampling of the infringing goods. In addition, Qingdao Customs dispatched personnel to join the investigation and proofs collection conducted by the police station in other places, ensuring that the case was successfully cracked. At present, the case has entered the phase for arresting the suspects.
(II) Recommendation reasons
1. With the Strengthening of crackdown on the export of infringing goods by the Customs in the southeast coastal areas of China, the lawbreakers intended to transfer their export goods to the ports in North China. This case showed that all customs houses across China cooperated with each other to defeat lawbreakers' intention to export infringing goods through the Customs Districts with less IPR infringement cases.
2. In the case, many types of products infringed the IPRs of multiple trademarks, so it was difficult for the Customs officers to handle the case. The Customs officers showed their high abilities of IPR enforcement in this case.
3. The case was another typical case which showed the effective cooperation between the IPR law enforcement of the Customs and the criminal law enforcement of the public security authority.
X. The case of Fuzhou Customs seizing 100,000 pieces of export counterfeit labels infringing "Adidas" trademark
(I) Basic information of the case
On March 23, 2007, a trade company in Shenzhen applied for the Customs declaration for a batch of molds, glue, high-frequency labels, etc. to be exported through Mawei Customs (subordinate to Fuzhou Customs District) to Tanzania. After conducting risk analysis on the goods, the customs officers responsible for declaration forms examination at Mawei Customs thought that the goods listed in the Customs declaration form had a high risk of IPR infringement, and therefore delivered a command to conduct surveillance over the goods. Upon receipt of the command, the Customs inspectors immediately organized an inspection, and used the Co-60 Container Inspection System to scan the container and analyze the scan images. The Customs inspectors found out that the 25 bags of high-frequency labels were all placed in the rear of the container. Based on the scanning result and the experiences of other IPR infringement cases, the Customs inspectors thought that these labels had a high risk of infringement, so they decided to open the bags and continue sample checks. The check results showed that the high-frequency labels placed on the top side in the rear of the container were FBC labels which have not been registered with the General Administration of Customs. The Customs inspectors realized that these labels might contain infringing trademarks, so they decided to conduct a thorough inspection on all the 25 bags of high-frequency labels in the container. Finally they found out that the four knit bags placed at the bottom contained a large amount of "Adidas" high-frequency labels covered by the FBC labels. The counting showed that the quantity of these "Adidas" high-frequency labels was 100,000 PCS. The IPR holder of "Adidas" trademark (Adidas-salomon AG) confirmed that the seized labels were all infringing goods. On July 31, according to the appraisal conclusion of the price authentication center of Fuzhou city, the Customs confiscated the infringing goods and imposed a fine of RMB 3,000 on the party concerned.
(II) Recommendation reasons
In recent years, the customs inspectors found out that in many infringing cases, the infringing trademarks and the goods are separated for export. This was a new method adopted by lawbreakers because the infringing goods bearing labels were more conspicuous in appearance and easier to be seized by the Customs, and therefore the lawbreakers might suffer serious losses. To reduce the costs and risks, some lawbreakers separated the trademarks and goods, and then exported them in different batches. The infringing trademarks were light and small, which were easy to be hidden in other goods so as to evade Customs inspection. After the infringing goods were transported out of the ports, the lawbreakers can paste or assembly them on the infringing goods for selling. In addition, the infringing trademarks were of low value, so the losses suffered by lawbreakers were small if the trademarks were seized by the Customs. To defeat this new method of infringement, Fuzhou Customs adopted the risk analysis technique to conduct surveillance on suspicious targets, and therefore seized a large amount of counterfeit trademarks.
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