Source: BUS Sachsen-Anhalt (Linie6PLus)

As the rights holder, receive information about goods stopped by customs

Description

If goods are suspected of infringing intellectual property rights, the customs authorities can detain them or suspend further clearance. This can prevent infringing goods from entering the internal market. As the rights holder, you can apply to the customs authorities for this procedure.

If your application is approved and suspicious goods are found, customs will inform you of the detention and you can inspect the goods. This can be followed by various steps:

The goods will be destroyed under customs supervision if the necessary requirements are met.
The person or company that declared or owns the goods can object to the destruction. The customs authorities will then inform you of this. You can then initiate civil court proceedings to decide on the infringement.
If the infringement of property rights is not confirmed or you do not initiate civil court proceedings, the goods will continue to be cleared or released.

Upon express request, you as the rights holder may also receive further information about

the name and address of the consignee, the consignor, the declarant and the owner of the goods
the relevant customs procedure,
the origin and provenance of the goods and
the destination of the goods.

If you apply for this information and the customs authorities provide it, you must comply with further obligations so that your application for action by the customs authorities can continue.

Prerequisites

In order to receive notifications as a rights holder in the so-called border seizure procedure, your application for action must have been approved.

Required documents

Together with the notification, you may receive digital images of the confiscated goods.

Deadlines

If you receive a notification of goods that have been stopped, you must declare within 10 working days that you are convinced that the goods are infringing and that you consent to their destruction.
In certain cases, you can request an extension of a maximum of 10 working days.
In the case of perishable goods, a period of 3 working days applies, which cannot be extended.

Legal remedy

Appeal
Detailed information on how to lodge an objection can be found in the notification of the decision on your application.

Applications / Forms

Forms available: No
Written form required: No
Informal application possible: No
Personal appearance necessary: No

Procedure

If your application for customs action has been approved, you will receive further notifications and decisions from the customs authorities online via the inbox in the customs portal.

If the customs authorities identify suspicious goods, they will detain them or suspend clearance.
The customs authorities will inform you as the rights holder of the facts of the case.
If necessary, you must confirm that you are convinced that the goods are infringing and agree in writing to the destruction of the goods.
If necessary, inform the customs authorities later on that the person authorized to dispose of the goods has objected to the destruction.
- If civil proceedings have been initiated in good time, the goods will be stored by the customs authorities until a legally binding judgment has been issued.
In certain cases, you can request that samples or specimens of the confiscated goods be made available to you.
You will receive a notification informing you of the decision to destroy the goods.
Depending on the decision, the goods will be destroyed under customs supervision or released to the declaring or possessing person.