In 2010, China's General Administration of Customs verified 3,020 filings demanding customs protection on intellectual property rights (IPR).

IPR protection enforced by customs could either be proactive and ex-officio actions or actions taken as required / applied. IPR filing is just a prerequisite of the former approach.

Many enterprises have benefited from the filing mechanism. Yiwu City in Zhejiang has been enjoying the reputation of the "global supermarket". In 2010, customs authorities in Yiwu took measures to protect the IP rights of 450 batches of commodities, involving 19.75 million pieces of products and 37.3 million yuan, successfully safeguarding 227 IP rights.

There is another example. A textile manufacturing company in Zhejiang owns a brand called "CHANNO". As advised by the customs, Wei Guangqin, the chairman of the company applied protection for the brand. Later in an enforcement action taken by Yiwu customs, 40,302 pieces of underwear that infringed the rights of "CHANNO" were seized, involving 300 thousand yuan. Wei was elated at the unexpected news.

"It takes some time for enterprises to be aware of intellectual property rights," said Luo Xuhong, chief of IPR Division in Yiwu Customs Office. "What we should do is to make the process shorter by promulgation, case study and large enterprises’ exemplary effects". At present, more and more businesses in Yiwu have delivered their applications to the customs to demand IPR protection. Chen Lingli, general manager of Exploit Hardware Co., Ltd, a local enterprise, told the reporter that the company "now has more than 20 patenting products being sold in over 90 countries and regions around the world". According to statistics, as many as 29 enterprises in Yiwu have taken the initiative to apply for customs' protection on IP rights so far.

Ningbo MH Industry Co., Ltd is a locally well-known private enterprise that specializes in manufacture and sales of garment accessories. Due to Ningbo customs' substantive achievements in actions towards IPR infringement and sufficient demonstration on IPR protection and filings, the company started to apply to the customs for IPR protection. Since 2009, MH Industry has successfully defended its rights for seven times and retrieved a loss of over 6.1 million yuan.

It is known that the General Administration of Customs has updated the "IPR Filing System" to better serve the applicants. In the new system, right holders can correct the information, including the contact persons, licensed enterprises and relevant pictures, on their own initiatives, so as to ensure the customs can receive the first-hand info as soon as possible. It is also provided by the new system an auto reminder which could send right holders messages on expiration or extension of the protection.

Source:IPR in China