CBP Should Develop New IT System for IPR Info Sharing, Set ACE Flag for 'Trusted IPR Vendors,' COAC Says

CBP should develop a new electronic platform incorporating its e-recordation system to improve intellectual property rights enforcement through better targeting and communication, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee said in recommendations adopted at the April 15 COAC meeting.

The system would include automatic recordation of trademarks with CBP once they’re registered with the Patent and Trademark Office, the COAC said. It would also be a hub for data upon which CBP could rely to target IPR violations, including U.S. licensees of the IPR, authorized manufacturing locations, known offender data and IPR owner contacts. The data could be linked to “keys” that could be shared with customs brokers and then transmitted to CBP in the entry filing process, which “shrinks the haystack” and allows CBP officers to “very quickly make determinations” on release, or even automate release.

Customs brokers should also have access to this data to automate their customer vetting processes, the COAC said. The system should also be used to exchange messages with IPR holders to authenticate detained goods or issue notices of seizures.

Acknowledging the complexity and cost of creating such a system, the COAC said that in the interim CBP should eliminate trademark-by-trademark recordation in the current e-recordation system to allow multiple marks to be recorded simultaneously. ACE should also be updated with the ability to record IPR, and existing systems should be looked at that can be used to automatically notify rights holders of any seizure, the COAC said.

CBP should also move forward with using blockchain technology to enforce IPR after the recent “successful IPR Proof of Concept,” the COAC said. “Specifically, the rights holder would provide a database of identifiers for legitimate product. The data would be encrypted through Blockchain technology so that neither CBP nor the Importer would have access to the raw data, thereby ensuring confidentiality of the Rights Holder’s intellectual property.” In such a system, the importer could query the blockchain database, and if there’s a match place an order. If not, the order can be canceled and the shipment never happens, meaning “CBP does not have to deal with the product at all,” according to a document posted in connection with the COAC meeting with background on the COAC’s recommendations.

CBP should also authorize CEEs to establish pilot programs for “Trusted IPR Vendor” lists, the COAC said. “A Trusted IPR Vendor could be identified with a flag in ACE similar to the Broker Known Importer Program (BKIP) that attaches a flag to every entry an importer makes once 'known' or approved as a Trusted IPR Vendor,” it said. Vendors would be companies authorized to import on behalf of a brand owner, or identified as a trusted vendor by a third-party organization. Vendors would have to certify compliance with standards involving due diligence, forced labor and cooperation with law enforcement.

Finally, among other recommendations made by the COAC at the meeting, the advisory committee said CBP should program ACE to reject entries for any importers that have been suspended or debarred from doing business with CBP. An Executive Order issued Jan. 31 says customs brokers may not work with clients that have been suspended or debarred from procurement for violations of the customs laws (see 2001310062).

Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the recommendations.