Topic: Anti-counterfeiting

As part of the government's campaign against counterfeiting launched lastyear, the Ministry of Finance has submitted a bill amending the Customs TariffLaw that will help IP owners take immediate action against infringers by allowingcustoms to reveal the identity of the importers of suspected counterfeit goods.

22 March 2004

China's new Regulations on Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, which enable customs to detain and confiscate goods infringing IP rights, will come into force on March 1 to replace the 1995 regulations.

26 February 2004

An anti-counterfeiting taskforce of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs has invited IP rights owners to meet the minister at the end of this month to kick start its 2004 campaign. The second part of the campaign will consist of compiling a database of the most commonly counterfeited trademarks and details of their owners' legal representatives.

20 February 2004

In <i>LifeGear Inc v Urus Industrial Corporation</i>, the Federal Court of Canada has held the defendant in contempt of court for continuing to offer for sale counterfeit products over the Internet following an earlier court order prohibiting such sale. The court came to this conclusion, in spite of the fact that the website appeared to be operated outside of Canada by a third party.

13 February 2004

In the split decision of <i>Gucci America Inc v Daffy's Inc</i>, the Third Circuit has rejected the plaintiff's request for an order compelling the defendant to recall counterfeit handbags it had sold and pay the profits of sale to the plaintiff. Although it found that the plaintiff's mark had been infringed, the court held that, because the fakes were of high quality and capable of fooling experts, the risk of public confusion was low.

12 February 2004

In <i>Montres Rolex SA v X</i>, the European Court of Justice has ruled that if a national court finds that national trademark law does not prohibit the transit of counterfeit goods, it cannot impose criminal penalties on such conduct pursuant to EU law, even if the national rules are contrary to EU law.

10 February 2004

The Special Criminal Court of Maringá has ruled that the import into Brazil of counterfeit ROADSTAR car radios amounted to trademark infringement with the aggravated circumstance of infringement of a well-known mark. The court dismissed the importer's claim that it was not liable as it acted on another company's behalf.

09 February 2004

In <i>HD Lee Company Inc v UAB Mita</i>, the Supreme Court of Lithuania has ruled that the provisions of Article 9 of the Paris Convention, which deal with the seizure of goods in transit, are optional in nature and do not prohibit customs authorities from seizing goods in transit. The court also confirmed that parties that are simply transporting counterfeit goods can still be found guilty of infringing trademark rights.

04 February 2004

In <i>ITC Ltd v Sodhi Garments</i>, the Delhi High Court has issued a search and seizure order against a number of defendants based outside the State of Delhi. The court held that it had jurisdiction to issue the order on the basis of Section 134 of the newly amended Trademarks Act, whereby a suit can be brought in the court where the plaintiff has its place of business.

02 February 2004

The South African Revenue Service has tightened up its procedures and operations relating to the seizure of counterfeit goods entering the country. The new policy means that containers will only be stopped in instances where an intellectual property right owner has applied to SARS requesting that it detain and seize suspected counterfeit goods.

27 January 2004