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Autumn 2003
In July 2003 the Council of Ministers approved a new Regulation
relating to the seizure of counterfeit goods by customs officials.
The new Regulation, comes into force in Ireland on 1 January 2004,
and replaces the existing regime under Regulation 3295/94.
The new Regulation improves the current position by allowing enterprises
to make their application to customs for free. It also abolishes
the requirement to provide security and in substitution requires
a rights-owner to provide an undertaking to accept liability if
the goods are ultimately found not to infringe or the procedure
is discontinued. The Regulation covers traditional intellectual
property rights and has now been extended to include plant varieties,
geographical indications and designations of origin. A streamlined
procedure is also introduced to allow custom officials destroy goods,
which have been abandoned without or before determining whether
an intellectual property right has been infringed.
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