Practical Section | Customs Protection Registration for Intellectual Property Rights (Active Protection)

Intellectual property customs protection is not "passively waiting for reports", but consists of "active protection" and "passive protection". Whether to file a record directly determines which type of protection the enterprise can enjoy. Today, let's take a closer look at "active protection". 

Active protection: More like an "automatic interception" feature exclusive to registered enterprises. For instance, the Labubu brand has made comprehensive intellectual property customs protection registrations. They have registered all the various series of Labubu, and this is precisely the core reason why the customs quickly seized a large number of infringing goods after Labubu became popular this year. 

The approximately 4,000 pieces of counterfeit goods seized by the Tianjin Customs during this inspection were discovered on-site by the customs officers during the goods inspection. They found that the characteristics of the goods declared as "cotton toys" were highly similar to those of Labubu that had been registered. After querying the intellectual property registration system, it was discovered that the shipper did not have the authorization from the rights holder. The customs immediately contacted the brand owner to confirm the infringement. 

Intellectual property rights holders can access the website of the General Administration of Customs by clicking on: "Internet + Customs" - My Services - Intellectual Property Protection Registration, and then enter the "Intellectual Property Customs Protection Registration Subsystem" to submit the registration application. The specific steps are as follows: 

User registration 

Register through the "Intellectual Property Customs Protection Registration Subsystem" - "Registration Entry" in the name of the intellectual property rights holder. 

2. Information Entry 

After successfully registering as a system user, follow the system prompts to fill in the relevant information for applying for the recordation of intellectual property rights and other related details, and upload the necessary attachments at the same time. 

3. Submit the application 

After filling in the complete application information for record-filing, simply click "Submit" to successfully submit the application to the General Administration of Customs. Before the General Administration of Customs conducts the review, users can withdraw the application. Once withdrawn, they can make modifications or deletions. 

4. Customs Audit 

The General Administration of Customs will make a decision to approve or reject the application within 30 working days from the date when the applicant submits the electronic application.