Using customs to fight counterfeits

The steady increase in counterfeit goods presents a real challenge for IP owners. The only effective way to protect IP rights in Russia is registration at Rospatent. Based on registration, the owners are then able to use their rights exclusively and prohibit others from using identical or confusingly similar rights. Registration is also needed for fighting against counterfeits.

However, registration alone will not remove counterfeit goods from the market. Other means are necessary to reveal the counterfeits, stop their supply and punish the infringers.

The Customs Register of Intellectual Property Objects (CRIPO) was founded in 2004 to increase the efficiency of customs clearance. In addition to Rospatent, IP owners can register their IP rights here to prevent infringing goods from entering the Russian market. Registration enables the customs authorities to separate counterfeit and genuine products and allows the infringing goods to be destroyed more easily.

Trademark owners have recently started to take advantage of this, to protect their rights more effectively against counterfeiting. The number of IP registrations at the Customs Register has increased, with 400 to 500 new objects registered annually.

Currently the total number of registered IP rights is 4,295. Among the most popular goods are alcohol products, confectionery, sporting clothes, footwear and automobile spare parts. Compared to the total trademark registrations in Russia (over 300,000), customs registrations are still rare, but it is an increasing trend.

Customs are also developing their processes constantly. Officers have started to monitor and report suspected counterfeit goods even when there is no customs registration, with the help of the Trademark Register of Rospatent and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Straightforward cooperation

Cooperation with Russian customs is straightforward for IP owners. Customs informs the owners about the suspected counterfeit goods and sets the deadlines for response. After a written confirmation from the owner, customs acts as a claimant against the infringer in the case. The owner is involved only as a third party. In short, customs handles the administrative court action against suspected counterfeit goods identified by its own operations.