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Flood of fakes leave North West businesses fighting for Intellectual Property Protection
9/12/2009

A leading North West law firm has reported a rise in claims initiated by businesses trying to stop counterfeit versions of their products flooding the market in the run up to Christmas.

According to intellectual property rights (IPR) specialists at Brabners Chaffe Street, a combination of a change to UK Customs' procedures and tight timescales for court actions are putting pressure on businesses across the UK including those in the North West.

“We're seeing an increase in the volume of cases where companies are trying to fight piracy including by securing court orders to force Customs to seize counterfeit goods,” explains Colin Bell, a solicitor at Brabners Chaffe Street's Liverpool office.

“In the past, owners of goods being brought into the UK had to prove they were not counterfeit, whereas now the burden of proof has switched to brand owners, who only have a matter of days to prove their rights are being infringed and stop items held by Customs from being released.”

In June this year, changes to UK Customs' procedures were implemented to bring the UK into line with EU law. Previously, Customs merely required a witness statement by the IPR holder alleging that items infringed trade marks or copyright before Customs seized those items. Now, Customs will only detain fakes if directed to do so by the courts.

“It's a double blow for businesses and rights holders - firstly, the impact of the recession has squeezed margins making the fight against piracy and counterfeits even more important and secondly, it's now up to the brands owners to quickly secure a court order to make sure fakes are detained by Customs.”

As a result, Brabners Chaffe Street are advising clients to take a proactive approach to blocking counterfeiters, starting with an audit of existing rights to ensure that brands, original works, inventions or designs are protected.

“Any company is vulnerable to IPR infringement and businesses need to be ready to take swift action to safeguard their brand and stop counterfeits flooding the market,” Colin Bell added.

To prevent allegedly fake goods such as branded clothes, accessories, toys and games being released by Customs, IPR holders now have just three working days for perishable goods and ten working days for non-perishables to begin court proceedings.


For further information contact Colin Bell at Brabners Chaffe Street on 0151 600 3281

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