Our firm’s Mongolian intellectual property lawyers have seen a lot of inquires in recent months from clients seeking assistance regarding counterfeit products which were being sold in Mongolia.
There are several mechanisms our Mongolian lawyers recommend to deal with counterfeit products in Mongolia. One of the most important of these is utilizing Customs to restrict entry of counterfeit products or goods infringing registered trademarks from entering Mongolia.
This works by seizing infringing goods at Customs upon attempted entry into Mongolia. Before this may be done, the authentic goods bearing a validly registered Mongolian Trademark must be registered with Customs.
This registration process is relatively easy, requiring documentation of the registered trademarks, basic information regarding the trademark owner, a description of the products, and a list of items requested to be reviewed and protected by Customs. Our Mongolian lawyers will walk you through the process. The review procedure will talk approximately 30 days from the date of submission of the application, after which, the registered information will be forwarded to Customs entry points around Mongolia.
A written request for seizure of infringing goods, must be submitted along with a small cash deposit or bank guarantee. The customs office prefers having the deposit to avoid incurring any damages to importer before starting examination of infringing goods based on the original goods with customs registration.
Our Mongolian lawyers and clients have found such Customs seizures to be effective at blocking incoming shipments of infringing products. However it is important to note the applicant seeking to block the shipments must have a valid, registered Mongolian trademark in order to support such action by Customs.