Maintaining control over grey imports

Parallel imports, also known as grey market goods, exist when genuine goods containing IP rights are imported for sale on markets and territories without the brand owner’s explicit consent. A simple example would be an item bearing a trademark which is sold on, and intended for, the US market but is then imported from the US to the EU without the trademark owner’s permission. In that case, even though the goods are genuine, the act of importing to a country for which the rights owner has not given its explicit consent would constitute IP infringement.