FAQs

Pursuant to section 200A of the Customs Ordinance [new version], customs units at ports and transit crossings are authorized to detain goods suspected of infringing trademarks, designs or copyrights for the period specified in the law. For this purpose, “infringement” is as defined in the relevant legislation, i.e the Copyright Law, the Designs Law and the Trademarks Ordinance.

At the Luzzatto Group, we are very aware of the importance of maintaining our clients’ rights, also through efficient and close work with the Israeli customs authorities. One of the most important things we do is to educate the Israeli custom officers in order to increase awareness of IP infringements, through briefings, regular updates on goods and new products for which there is an increased risk of infringements, and professional feedback on the nature of products seized.

If you are aware of an infringing shipping who will arrive in Israel, you can update the customs regarding the delivery and the quality of the products suspected of being infringers.

There are two types of procedures for handling seized goods – a “short” procedure and a “long” procedure. The choice of customs in a “short” or “long” procedure is an independent decision that cannot be appealed, but is usually based on the price of the goods, the cost of storage, the cost of destruction of the goods and the level of risk of delay, resulting from customs inspection by the customs officials.

As part of a “short” procedure, customs officials will contact the rights owner in writing and inform him/her of the delay in the goods, for a period of up to 3 working days from the date of notification. This period can be extended to 3 additional working days, for special reasons, for example, the granting of an extension for the purpose of a closer examination of the goods pictures / samples of the goods by the rights owner. This notice will be accompanied by pictures of the said goods, in order to allow the rights owner to examine whether the goods infringe his right. Also, upon request of the rights owner, he/she will be provided with samples of the infringing goods for a more in-depth examination.

During the period of delay, and after examining the photos and / or samples of the goods, if the rights owner believes that the goods violate his right, he must provide the customs officials with a detailed and reasoned opinion according to which the goods do infringe. Since the importer may review the opinion, it is advisable not to specify special identifying characteristics in the opinion (in order not to provide helpful information to counterfeiters), but to present a brief opinion to customs detailing the general claims that the goods infringe his right, such as the goods are not included in the rights owner’s product line, or the design of these goods is different from that of the goods produced by the rights owner.

In addition, the rights holder must commit to the customs officials that he/she will join as a defendant, alongside the customs department, if a claim is filed for restitution of the infringing goods by the importer, and a letter of indemnity to the customs department for any amount or expense related to the delay in the goods, if it turns out that the delay was not justified. Upon submission of these documents to customs, the goods will be destroyed by the customs department, but the name of the importer will not be disclosed to the rights holder. It should be emphasized that if these documents are not disclosed to customs during the delay period, then the goods will be released to the importer. Alternatively, if the rights holder is interested in disclosing the name of the importer, he has the option of taking a “long” procedure as stated below.

As part of a “lengthy” procedure, customs officials will contact the rights holder in writing and inform him/her of the delay in the goods, for a period of up to 3 working days from the date of notification. This period can be extended to 3 additional working days, for special reasons. This notice will be accompanied by pictures of the said goods, in order to allow the rights holder to examine whether the goods infringe his rights. Also, at the request of the rights holder, he/she will be provided with samples of the infringing goods.

During the period of delay, the owner of the rights must submit to the customs a notice that he/she intends to file a lawsuit against the importer (within 10 working days from the date of the notice) and attach a bank guarantee to this notice. The amount of the bank guarantee is determined by customs and its purpose is to cover all expenses related to the delay or to compensate for any damage related to the delay of the customs and / or the importer.

After depositing the guarantee, customs will notify the rights holder of the importer’s identity and during the delay period, the rights holder will usually negotiate with the importer in order to reach a compromise agreement with him/her and to avoid filing a lawsuit.

The settlement agreement is a binding legal document, in the framework of which the importer will be required to perform a number of actions such as the destruction of the goods, an undertaking to refrain from importing infringing products and more. This settlement aagreement must be approved by the legal department of customs prior to its signing. The bank guarantee will be returned to the right holder shortly after customs clearance of the agreement and its signing by the parties.

Also, if the parties have not signed a settlement agreement within the stipulated period, the rights holder must file a lawsuit. Although the documents transferred between the parties during the negotiations in the legal proceedings cannot be used, it is a procedure that can be lengthy, entailing many expenses for the parties, and in the end a judgment will be given against one of the parties.

In the event that the parties have not signed a settlement agreement and no lawsuit has been filed by the rights holder within the prescribed period, the goods will be released by customs, although customs may extend the period for filing the claim for special reasons recorded.

It seems that a “long” procedure may be more expensive for the rights holder, but in many cases this procedure leads to better results for the rights holder, who receives details about the importer and the supplier who sold him/her the infringing goods. However, in some cases where the rights holder finds out that the importer is located in The West Bank (Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip), it will be likely that the rights holder will encounter additional difficulties, for example in terms of enforcing the agreement, given the legal status of these territories. In such cases, it is important to conduct the negotiations in a way that will lead to as effective results as possible.

It depends. Under the Customs Ordinance, Customs is empowered to detain goods suspected of infringing copyright, trademark or registered design. Copyright is not a right that requires registration in Israel (and there is not even a regulated registry, unlike a patent, trademark or design). In contrast, the ordinance clearly states “registered design”, so that for designs there is a registration requirement, whereas with regards to a trademark, even a well-known trademark can be protected. However, there is no doubt that trademark registration can make this process easier and simpler for the trademark owner.

Pursuant to Section 200A of the Customs Ordinance [New Version], Customs is authorized to detain goods suspected of infringing copyrights, trademarks or designs.