Customs measures for the protection of IP rights

Filing and maintaining an umbrella of registered rights is only the first step towards protecting a company’s IP rights. Equally important is the defence and enforcement of those rights through actions before the IP offices to keep potential infringers off the registers and to watch the markets in order to take legal action against counterfeiters, black marketers and others making use of IP rights in bad faith. A wide range of measures are available to right holders before the offices and the courts as well as with the assistance of customs and criminal prosecution authorities.