GCC CUSTOMS
that has not yet been put into eff ect because the Commercial Cooperation Committee (CCC) has not sanctioned its implementing regulations. T e Kingdom of Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman have expressed reservations towards the law that could not be incorporated into the regulations. Consequently, a unifi ed Law for Trademarks consisting of 52 articles has been re-issued. Chapter 5 of the law (Articles 38 to 41) complies with the TRIPS Agreement (Articles 51 to 60).
Pursuant to Article 6 of RBPIPR, the owner of a trademark has the right, at any time before lodging a civil or criminal case, to seek issuance of a judicial order by the Board of Grievances (at the concerned authority). T e order should be based on a complaint, substantiated by an offi cial certifi cate confi rming the registration of
the
trademark, and plainly instructing the custom authorities to seize goods subject to a counterfeit trademark similar to the plaintiff ’s. It also bans clearance of the products under Article 49 of the Trademarks Law.
As soon as the unifi ed law comes into force (within six months from the date of its regulations being sanctioned by the CCC) the national legislation of some member states will undergo the necessary amendments. T e RBPIPR is a case in point. T e law has conferred more protection to
trademarks at borders. T e main characteristics of the law can be summarised as follows:
1. It entitles the trademark owner to approach the concerned customs authority to stop clearance of commodities related to the disputed trademark, because issuing a judicial order to that eff ect would take considerable time.
2. It obliges the concerned authority to pass a decision as regards the owner’s application within seven days of submission and to notify the applicant of the outcome.
3. It empowers the concerned authority to demand a reasonable bond or guarantee to safeguard the interests of the adversary and the concerned authority.
4. It confi rms the concerned authority’s power to stop, of its own accord, clearance of commodities prima facie suspected of carrying counterfeit trademarks (Article 2 of the Procedures of the Saudi Customs Regulations refers to a similar action).
5. It gives the concerned authority the right to issue an order to stop clearance of imported commodities or
transit goods or goods
prepared for export upon their arrival at the customs area in its domain, provided that
it is apparently evident that these goods are counterfeit or unjustifi ably carry trademarks similar
to a registered trademark. T is is
undoubtedly an added and strict protection measure. However, the TRIPS Agreement has allowed WTO members to apply some exceptions as regards its application to transit goods and goods prepared for export. T e Saudi customs authority has detected some cases of smuggling counterfeit goods, depicted as transit goods, to other countries.
6. To ensure transparency and do justice to both the trademark owner and the importer of the goods suspected of infringing the rights of the trademark owner, the law requires the clearance authority that halted clearance of the goods in issue to take the following steps:
a) To immediately notify the importer and the trademark’s owner of its decision to stop clearance of the goods. T e RBPIPR conforms to the law in specifying a period of 10 days for the trademark owner, from being notifi ed of the restriction, to institute proceedings with notice to the customs authorities, otherwise the restriction will be null and void unless the competent court sees otherwise (applies TRIPS).
www.worldipreview.com
World Intellectual Property Review September/October 2013 123
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