U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) released a report indicating they seized a record number of 34,143 shipments of goods that violated Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”) in 2017. In comparison, 2016 saw about 30,000 shipments seized for counterfeit and pirated products. The total estimated MSRP of the seized goods in 2017 total approximately $1.2 billion.

Other interesting facts in the report:

-90% of the seized counterfeit and pirated goods in 2017 were in express carrier and international mail environments as opposed to containerized shipments.

-15% of the IPR seizures were related to wearing apparel

-48% of the IPR violation seizures were from China (16,538)

-39% of the IPR violation seizures were from Hong Kong

We can expect CBP and ICE to only increase their number of seizures for 2018 as CBP continues with their “The Truth Behind Counterfeits campaign” along with increased awareness of the CBP hotlines to report suspected fraud or illegal trade activity (1-800-BE-ALERT).

If you or anyone you know has had CBP or ICE detain your shipments, or if you received notice from DHL of a Customs seizure – call experienced trade and customs attorney David Hsu at 832.896.6288, or email attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

Many importers do not contest the seizure because they feel the value of the shipment doesn’t justify speaking to an attorney – but CBP can and will issue civil penalties after the seizure, call today!