Protection Ex Officio

The Protection Ex Officio refers to the measures taken proactively by the Customs during their supervision, when they find any import/export goods suspected of infringing on any intellectual property right (IPR) that is registered with the General Administration of Customs, to detain the goods, investigate the IPR infringement and impose penalty on the infringers.

The Protection Ex Officio has the following features:

• . an IPR holder shall have registered its IPR with the General Administration of Customs.
• · when the Customs discover any import/export goods suspected of infringing any registered IPR, they shall suspend the release of the said goods and inform the relevant IPR holder in writing.
• ·where an IPR holder requests the Customs to detain the suspected infringing goods, such holder shall file an application within three working days and provide a guarantee. The IPR holder shall provide a guarantee up to RMB 100,000 for the Customs. Upon approval of the General Administration of Customs, a general bond may be provided.
• · where an IPR holder files an application and provides a guarantee, the Customs shall detain the goods.
• · the Customs shall investigate and verify the IPR infringement; where the infringement cannot be verified, the Customs shall notify the IPR holder.
• · for the verified infringing goods, the Customs are entitled to confiscate such goods and to impose an administrative penalty on the relevant consignee or consignor. Where the infringement constitutes a crime, the Customs shall hand the case over to the Public Security authorities.
• · the Customs are entitled to dispose of the confiscated infringing goods in accordance with the law.
• · the Customs and the IPR holder shall go through settlement of fees and refund of the guarantee money.

Procedure of the Protection Ex Officio: