Customs seizure of “RUSSIA 2018” footballs infringing World Cup IPR

Customs officers count the “RUSSIA 2018” footballs infringing World Cup IPR.

Recently, Shanghai Customs disclosed a case of infringement on World Cup trademark right, in which the Customs seized outbound 2,470 footballs with counterfeit “RUSSIA 2018” mark.

In the middle of this April, an export consignment of footballs to Colombia drew the attention of Yangshan Customs House subordinate to Shanghai Customs District, as the Customs officers found all those footballs printed with the “RUSSIA 2018” mark. On April 21, the FIFA confirmed in writing to the Customs that this batch of footballs were infringing on its trademark right. At present, Shanghai Customs has detained this consignment for investigation.

Till early June, Shanghai Customs has seized 12 cases of infringing the IPRs of FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, involving more than 130,000 commodities.