Businesses employ all manner of legal strategies to protect their intellectual property rights, but some legal departments overlook the potent enforcement tools available at the border. The United States imports an enormous amount of goods from other countries, and pirated products naturally are part of that deluge. In-house counsel should understand how to enlist the federal government’s help to stop infringing goods or, alternatively, to defend their companies’ rights to import products against claims of infringement.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the gatekeeper for products entering the United States, with enormous powers and vast resources at its disposal to keep out and confiscate infringing products. Counsel for holders of copyrights, trademarks and patents should enlist CBP to keep infringing products out of the country.
