Industrial Property Law

The owner of a registered design or the beneficiary of an exclusive exploitation right may submit a request to the customs authorities, together with proof of entitlement, with a view to detaining goods that he or she claims are counterfeit and are circulating on French territory, from French territory or from another Member State (Art. L. 521-14, para. 1, IP Code). If the request is accepted, the …

Application for retention

The owner of a registered design or the beneficiary of an exclusive exploitation right may submit a request to the customs authorities, together with proof of entitlement, with a view to detaining goods that he or she claims are counterfeit and are circulating on French territory, from French territory or from another Member State (Art. L. 521-14, para. 1, IP Code). If the request is accepted, the customs authorities immediately notify the applicant and the holder of the goods of the detention and inform the public prosecutor (Art. L. 521-14, para. 2, IP Code). Notwithstanding the professional secrecy obligation of customs officers, the applicant is informed of the nature, actual or estimated quantity and images of the goods. This information may also be disclosed before the detention measure is implemented (Art. L. 521-14, para. 3, IP Code).

If no application for detention has been made, the customs authorities may, as part of their controls, automatically detain goods that may infringe a registered design or exclusive exploitation right (Art. L. 521-15, para. 1, IP Code). They notify the owner of the design or the beneficiary of the exclusive exploitation right immediately and inform the public prosecutor (Art. L. 521-15, para. 2, IP Code). The right holder is provided with the nature, actual or estimated quantity and pictures of the goods, by way of derogation from the professional secrecy of customs officers (Art. L. 521-15, para. 3, IP Code). The person notified has four working days from notification of the detention to submit a demand for the goods to be detained to the customs authorities. Failing this, the detention order is automatically lifted (Art. L. 521-15, para. 4, IP Code). This procedure does not apply to perishable goods (Art. L. 521-15, para. 6, IP Code).

The customs authorities may not detain goods lawfully manufactured or released for free circulation in a Member State of the EU which are passing through French territory in order to be placed on the market in another Member State to be lawfully marketed there (Art. L. 521-14, para. 7, IP Code) , or which are passing through France on their way to a non-EU Member State (Art. L. 521-14, para. 8, IP Code).

Article L. 521-14, paragraph 7, of the Intellectual Property Code, incorporated into the Intellectual Property Code by the Law of 29 October 2007, reproduces European and national case law concerning goods in transit: ECJ Case C-23/99  Commission v France, Judgment of 26 September 2000,  LawLex200500004918JBJ; Cass. crim., 3 September 2002, LawLex202200001953JBJ; Cass. crim., 21 September 2004, LawLex202300009355JBJ.

Industrial Property Law

525. Application for retention

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

525. Application for retention

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise