When customs stops counterfeit goods: what it costs to be wrong
Once customs suspends a consignment under Regulation (EU) No 608/2013, a fixed clock starts. The rights holder gets a short working-day window to confirm the goods are counterfeit and to ask for destruction or seizure. Miss that window, and the shipment is released automatically, often to the same importer, with no second suspension guaranteed. React inside it under Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (EUTMR), and the goods can be destroyed without a full court case. Being wrong about the deadline costs the case, not just the goods.
The basis: two regulations, one procedure
Customs enforcement of intellectual property rights across the EU runs on Regulation (EU) No 608/2013. It lets customs authorities suspend release of goods suspected of infringing a registered right, notify the rights holder, and set a deadline for a response. The underlying right itself, for an EU trade mark, sits in Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (EUTMR), which entered into force on 1 October 2017. The customs regulation gives the procedure; the trade mark regulation gives the right that the procedure protects. Neither substitutes for the other, and a rights holder needs both in place before goods ever reach a port.
What changes the moment the shipment is held
Before suspension, an infringement is a commercial nuisance you discover on the shelf, months late. After suspension, it is a procedure with a clock, an addressee, and a default outcome if nobody answers. The importer is notified at the same time as the rights holder, which means the other side is already aware and may already be instructing someone. Silence favours the importer: the regulation is built so that inaction releases the goods. Speed is not optional here; it is the entire mechanism.
If a similar workaround dispute is already running in parallel, on a related product line, the same urgency applies to that separate matter — see When a rival launches an obvious workaround in detail for how those deadlines are structured.
What to do, in order
- Confirm receipt of the customs notice immediately. The rights holder or its representative logs the exact date the notice arrived; the working-day count starts there, not on the date it is read.
- Instruct someone to inspect the goods or the accompanying documentation within days, not weeks. A visual or documentary check usually decides whether the goods are genuine, parallel imports, or counterfeit.
- File the formal confirmation with customs before the deadline expires. This is the step that keeps the suspension alive; a late confirmation has the same effect as no confirmation.
- Decide, in the same filing, whether to ask for simplified destruction or to reserve the right to litigate. The two paths lead to different timelines and different evidence requirements.
- Notify the customs broker or freight forwarder handling the consignment if the goods are moving through a logistics chain with its own contractual scope — a provider stepping outside its brief here can itself become a dispute; see When professional services drift out of scope: what it costs to be wrong.
- Keep a written record of every deadline met and every communication sent. If the importer later objects, that record is what the case turns on.
Who decides, and on what evidence
The customs authority that made the suspension decides whether to keep holding the goods, based on the rights holder's confirmation and any documentation the importer submits in response. If the matter is contested, it moves to the forum that has jurisdiction over the underlying trade mark right, not to the customs authority itself.
| Stage | Who acts | What is decided |
|---|---|---|
| Suspension notice issued | Customs authority | Goods held; both parties notified |
| Confirmation window | Rights holder | Whether infringement is confirmed and how to proceed |
| No objection from importer | Customs authority | Simplified destruction may proceed |
| Importer objects | Competent court | Whether the goods actually infringe the registered right |
Where this splits: three scenarios
If the importer does not respond within the window, the simplified destruction route under Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 usually proceeds without a court filing. If the importer objects, the matter shifts to litigation on the merits under Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (EUTMR), and the customs suspension becomes evidence rather than the decision itself. If the goods in question are not physical but tokenised — for instance a supply change recorded on a ledger rather than a container — the customs procedure has no application at all; that situation follows a different mechanism, described in When a burn changes the supply: what it costs to be wrong.
What determines the cost of acting
The cost of responding to a customs suspension depends on a small set of factors: how many registries the mark is held in, how many jurisdictions the shipment touches, whether the confirmation deadline has already started running, and whether the importer is contesting or silent. We do not publish rates for this work in advance, because those four factors change the scope too much to quote a fixed figure. What we do commit to: a first response from a partner within minutes during business hours, and a firm quote within one working day of receiving the customs notice.
What this page does not resolve
This page covers the customs suspension procedure and the deadline that follows it. It does not cover how to register the underlying trade mark, how to value the seized goods, or how enforcement runs outside the EU customs union. It also does not replace an assessment of whether a specific batch of goods meets the legal definition of counterfeit — that inspection has to happen on the actual shipment. Where the underlying dispute concerns an asset rather than a shipment, the applicable groundwork is set out separately; see Asset in Guernsey and the deadline for how that assessment is structured.
Verified
Checked against Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 and Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (EUTMR), both current at the time of writing. No case law is cited on this page because none in our records meets the confirmed-status threshold for this specific procedure.
Related publications
A comparable deadline problem, arising when a franchise relationship ends rather than when goods are seized, is set out in When a franchise partner leaves with the sign and what it costs to be wrong.
FAQ
What is the first step when customs stops counterfeit goods?
Log the exact date the customs notice was received. The confirmation deadline under Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 runs from that date, not from the date someone reviews the file.
Which deadline is already running?
The working-day window to confirm infringement and request action starts the moment the notice reaches the rights holder or its representative. It runs regardless of internal delays on the rights holder's side.
Who decides, and on what evidence?
The customs authority decides whether to maintain the suspension, based on the confirmation filed. If the importer objects, the decision on infringement moves to the court with jurisdiction over the underlying trade mark right under Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (EUTMR).