I、Brief Introduction of Customs' Intellectual Property (IP) Protection

The Current "Customs' Protection Regulations of the People's Republic of China" became effective on Mar 1, 2004 (hereinafter called "the Regulations").

“Customs protection of intellectual property rights” refers to the implementation of protection by customs of the exclusive rights to use a trademark, copyrights and the rights related thereto, and patent rights that are related to import and export goods and that are protected by PRC laws and administrative regulations (Intellectual Property Rights).

The State prohibits the import and export of goods that infringe upon Intellectual Property Rights.

Owners of Intellectual Property Rights that request customs to implement protection of Intellectual Property Rights shall submit an application to customs for adoption of protective measures.

II、Request for Deposit of Customs IP Protection

An owner of Intellectual Property Rights may apply to the General Administration of Customs for record filing of his Intellectual Property Rights according to the provisions hereof. To apply for record filing, an application form shall be submitted. An application form shall include the following particulars:

(1)the name or personal name, place of registration or nationality, etc. of the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights;

(2) the name, details and the relevant information of the Intellectual Property Rights;

(3)the details of the exercise of the Intellectual Property Rights license;

(4) the name, place of origin, customs at the point of entry/exit, importers and exporters, major characteristics, and prices, etc. of the goods of which the Intellectual Property Rights are lawfully exercised by the owner of Intellectual Property Rights; and

(5) the manufacturers, importers and exporters, customs at the point of entry/exit, major characteristics, and prices, etc. of goods that are known to have infringed upon Intellectual Property Rights.

Where there are supporting documents for the contents of the application form specified in the preceding paragraph, the owner of Intellectual Property Rights shall attach the supporting documents.

The General Administration of Customs shall, within 30 working days of the date of receipt of all application documents, render a decision on whether to grant approval for record filing, and shall notify the applicant in writing. Where approval for record filing is not granted, the reasons therefore shall be stated.

The General Administration of Customs shall not grant approval for record filing in any of the following circumstances:

(1) the application documents are incomplete or invalid;

(2) the applicant is not the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights; or

(3) the Intellectual Property Rights are no longer protected by laws or administrative regulations.

If customs discovers that an owner of Intellectual Property Rights that applies for record filing of Intellectual Property Rights has not provided the relevant details or documents truthfully, the General Administration of Customs may revoke its filed record.

A filed record for customs protection of Intellectual Property Rights shall be effective as of the date on which the General Administration of Customs grants approval for record filing, and shall be valid for 10 years.

Where the Intellectual Property Rights are valid, the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights may, within six months prior to the expiration of the term of validity of the filed record for customs protection of Intellectual Property Rights, apply to the General Administration of Customs for an extension of the filed record. The term of validity of each extension of a filed record shall be 10 years.

Where no application for extension has been made upon the expiration of the term of validity of a filed record for customs protection of Intellectual Property Rights, or the Intellectual Property Rights are no longer protected by laws or administrative regulations, the filed record for customs protection of Intellectual Property Rights shall immediately become void.

 Where there is a change in the details of a filed record of Intellectual Property Rights, the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights shall, within 30 working days of the date on which the change occurs, carry out the amendment or cancellation procedures with the General Administration of Customs.

Where the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights does not apply to the amendment or cancellation procedures in accordance with the preceding paragraph so as to seriously affect other’s lawful import or export and the Customs supervision according to law, the General Administration of Customs can remove the record upon the application of the stakeholders or take the initiative to do so.

III、APPLICATION FOR IMPOUNDMENT OF GOODS SUSPECTED OF INFRINGING UPON RIGHTS

Where an owner of Intellectual Property Rights discovers that goods suspected of infringing upon rights are about to be imported or exported, he may submit an application for impoundment of goods suspected of infringing upon rights to the customs of the place where the goods are to enter into, or exit from, China.

Where an owner of Intellectual Property Rights requests customs to impound goods suspected of infringing upon rights, he shall submit an application form and the relevant supporting documents, and shall provide evidence that is sufficient to prove that the infringement clearly exists.

An application form shall include the following main particulars:

(1) the name or personal name, place of registration or nationality, etc. of the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights;

(2) the name, details and the relevant information of the Intellectual Property Rights;

(3) the names of the consignees and consignors of the goods suspected of infringing upon rights;

(4) the name and specifications, etc. of the goods suspected of infringing upon rights; and

(5) the port by which, the time at which and the means of transportation by which, the goods suspected of infringing upon rights may enter into, or exit from,China.

Where the goods suspected of infringing upon rights are suspected of infringing upon Intellectual Property Rights that are filed for record, the application form shall also include the customs record number.

IV、Entrust INNOPAT with the affairs of Customs Intellectual Property Rights protection

Request for deposit of Customs Intellectual Property Rights protection should be filed by the Intellectual Property Right owner or its/his agent (Stately called as "applicant") at the State Customs Office of China. When an owner of Intellectual Property Right does not have business place or operating office insideChina, it/he should request for deposit through a Chinese agent(like our firm ,Innopat). When one of the co-owners of an Intellectual Property Right requests the deposit, the other co-owners have no need to file further deposits.

An IP right owner needs to submit the following documents for Customs' IP protection:

(1) An Application Form for Customs' IP Protection.

(2) A Power of attorney, executed by the IP right owner, we need original copy.

(3) Copy of corporate business license, or copy of individual identification certificate, both to be notarized and authenticated.

(4) Relevant intellectual property certificate, e.g., copy of patent certificate, certified copy of patent registry, copy of trademark certificate, certified copy of trademark registry, certified copy of copyright registry, etc.

(5) Copy of license agreement (Chinese version, if in a foreign language).

(6) Specification and photos of relevant goods; preferably colored photos of goods and its package in size of 5 inch (12.5 cmx9.5 cm). Where various kinds of goods are involved, the photos thereof can be put onto supplementary sheets.

(7) Other documents that may be deemed requisite by the Chinese State Customs Administration.

While applying to the Customs to take protective measures for the intellectual property concerned, the following supporting materials are to be supplied:

1. Application Form for Customs' Protection Measure.

2. Power of attorney, executed by the owner, original copy.

3. Goods in kind, photos and other supporting materials re the suspected infringement.

4. Deposit Certificate and identification documents of the intellectual property owner.

5. Where the intellectual property owner requests the Customs to detain the suspected infringing goods, a bond equal to the CIF price of the goods to be imported or the FOB price of the goods to be exported shall be provided; where the CIF/FOB price can not be ascertained, the Customs Office will make an estimate thereof.

The intellectual property owner may file an application with the Customs to withdraw its request for taking protective measures; however, said application shall be made in writing and filed with the Customs before the Customs has made the decision to detain the suspected infringing goods.