As companies attach importance to property rights, customs registration has become an increasingly important step within the development of corporate trade. For companies planning or already conducting business activities in Hong Kong , additionally to protecting their property rights by registering trademarks with CTMO, the corresponding registration of trademarks with China Customs is additionally an extra guarantee worth considering.

What Is The Customs Trademark Registration?

Customs registration of a trademark refers to the procedure by which the proper holder applies to the company incorporation for trademark rights protected by the customs to get customs protection. consistent with the “Regulations on the Customs Protection of property Rights”, right holders can request customs detention once they discover infringing goods. The customs can also actively detain infringing goods during the inspection of the import and export of products supported the filing information of the proper holder. Since it’s difficult for right holders to seek out infringements on their own, consistent with China Customs data, the customs protection of property rights mainly relies on the initiative of the customs.

Essentially, if the registered trademark has been filed with the customs, they’re going to investigate and detain the utilization of trademarks protected by Chinese laws and regulations and goods suspected of trademark infringement without the permission of the proper holder when inspecting imported and exported goods. , And actively contact the proper holder to guard the enterprise’s property rights. In fact, the foremost common reason for customs seizure is trademark infringement, because trademark identification doesn’t involve technical means and may be easily identified by appearance, so it’s the only and best to the hong kong trademark registration with the customs.

Why Should A Trademark Be Registered At The Customs?

Although the present laws not have any requirements for customs trademark registration, this type of registration remains of great significance for the protection of corporate trademark rights. in theory , Chinese customs officials should compare the CTMO database for confirmation when inspecting imported and exported goods. However, in fact, the idea of the customs department is more of a trademark database that has been filed with the customs. In other words, the registered trademarks are often effectively compared during the initial inspection of customs import and export to scale back the danger of further circulation of infringing trademarks.

How To Register A Trademark At The Customs?

At present, the overall Administration of Customs of China has cancelled trademark registration fees, which suggests that registration is free. All registration operations are administered online, and therefore the required materials are uploaded through the customs property record system. The review period of the materials is 30 days from the date of receipt of all application documents, then the appliance results are often obtained.

Valid Period

The registration shall become from the date of approval by the overall Administration of Customs and therefore the period shall be ten years. A trademark with a validity period of but ten years shall be calculated because the remaining validity period of the property rights. The validity period of customs filing are often extended by renewal, which should be administered a minimum of half a year before the expiration of the validity period.

Customs registration of trademarks helps the customs to effectively find infringing goods, thereby protecting the trademark rights of the proper holders. At an equivalent time, it can prevent possible infringements within the future.