supporting CFR

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, DHS; Treasury
§ 133.21 Articles bearing counterfeit
trademarks.
(a) Counterfeit trademark defined. A
‘‘counterfeit trademark’’ is a spurious
trademark that is identical to, or substantially indistinguishable from, a
registered trademark.
(b) Seizure. Any article of domestic or
foreign manufacture imported into the
United States bearing a counterfeit
trademark shall be seized and, in the
absence of the written consent of the
trademark owner, forfeited for violation of the customs laws.
(c) Notice to trademark owner. When
merchandise is seized under this section, Customs shall disclose to the
owner of the trademark the following
information, if available, within 30
days, excluding weekends and holidays,
of the date of the notice of seizure:
(1) The date of importation;
(2) The port of entry;
(3) A description of the merchandise;
(4) The quantity involved;
(5) The name and address of the manufacturer;
(6) The country of origin of the merchandise;
(7) The name and address of the exporter; and
(8) The name and address of the importer.
(d) Samples available to the trademark
owner. At any time following seizure of
the merchandise, Customs may provide
a sample of the suspect merchandise to
the owner of the trademark for examination, testing, or other use in pursuit
of a related private civil remedy for
trademark infringement. To obtain a
sample under this section, the trademark/trade name owner must furnish
Customs a bond in the form and
amount specified by the port director,
conditioned to hold the United States,
its officers and employees, and the importer or owner of the imported article
harmless from any loss or damage resulting from the furnishing of a sample
by Customs to the trademark owner.
Customs may demand the return of the
sample at any time. The owner must
return the sample to Customs upon demand or at the conclusion of the examination, testing, or other use in pursuit
of a related private civil remedy for
trademark infringement. In the event
that the sample is damaged, destroyed,

§ 133.22

or lost while in the possession of the
trademark owner, the owner shall, in
lieu of return of the sample, certify to
Customs that: ‘‘The sample described as
[insert description] and provided pursuant to 19 CFR 133.21(d) was (damaged/
destroyed/lost) during examination,
testing, or other use.’’
(e) Failure to make appropriate disposition. Unless the trademark owner,
within 30 days of notification, provides
written consent to importation of the
articles, exportation, entry after obliteration of the trademark, or other appropriate disposition, the articles shall
be disposed of in accordance with
§ 133.52, subject to the importer’s right
to petition for relief from the forfeiture under the provisions of part 171
of this chapter.
§ 133.22 Restrictions on importation of
articles bearing copying or simulating trademarks.
(a) Copying or simulating trademark or
trade name defined. A ‘‘copying or simulating’’ trademark or trade name is one
which may so resemble a recorded
mark or name as to be likely to cause
the public to associate the copying or
simulating mark or name with the recorded mark or name.
(b) Denial of entry. Any articles of
foreign or domestic manufacture imported into the United States bearing a
mark or name copying or simulating a
recorded mark or name shall be denied
entry and subject to detention as provided in § 133.25.
(c) Relief from detention of articles
bearing copying or simulating trademarks.
Articles subject to the restrictions of
this section shall be detained for 30
days from the date on which the goods
are presented for Customs examination, to permit the importer to establish that any of the following circumstances are applicable:
(1) The objectionable mark is removed or obliterated as a condition to
entry in such a manner as to be illegible and incapable of being reconstituted, for example by:
(i) Grinding off imprinted trademarks wherever they appear;
(ii) Removing and disposing of plates
bearing a trademark or trade name;

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