Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights: The IPR (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007

Overview

The Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007 empower Indian customs authorities to suspend the clearance of infringing goods, provided the rights holder has registered a notice to that effect. In practice, however, this mechanism remains significantly underused by registered proprietors and owners of intellectual property rights.

Registering such a notice gives the IP owner a valuable layer of border protection against the import of infringing goods, particularly in relation to copyrights, trademarks, and designs. Patents are also covered under the Rules, but patent-related border enforcement is comparatively rare in practice, given the greater technical complexity and specialised expertise required to assess infringement at the border.

Filing the Notice

A notice of registration must be filed together with:

• a certified copy of the relevant IP right;
• an annexure setting out details of the right holder's rights and the grounds on which registration of the notice is sought;
• the prescribed fee of INR 2,000;
• an indemnity bond, accompanied by a surety bond.

Where the request is filed through an attorney, a Power of Attorney must also be furnished. Where necessary, the customs office may call for photographs or physical samples of the product, article, or work in which the IP right subsists. If the information supplied is not in the required format, the customs office may seek additional details or clarification from the right holder.

Registration Timeline and Validity

Customs authorities must register or reject the notice within 30 days of its filing, or within 30 days of receipt of any additional information sought from the right holder. Once a notice is registered, the customs office communicates the period of validity to the right holder — a minimum of one year, unless the right holder itself requests a shorter period. The registering customs office then circulates the registered notice to all other customs offices covered by it, ensuring nationwide enforcement.

Suspension of Clearance

Where the import of goods is suspended pursuant to a registered notice, the customs office notifies both the right holder and the importer of the suspension, along with the reasons for it.

If the right holder does not join the proceedings within 10 working days of the date of suspension, the customs office may proceed to decide the matter on its merits. This 10-working-day period may be extended by a further 10 working days where the customs office considers it appropriate to do so.

Perishable goods are subject to a shorter timeline: the right holder must join proceedings within 3 working days of suspension, extendable by a further 4 working days only where customs officials are satisfied that the extension will not affect the condition of the goods.

Inspection, Seizure, and Disposal

Both the right holder and the importer are entitled to examine the suspended goods, including by way of representative samples, for the purposes of examination, testing, and analysis where necessary.

Where the right holder joins the proceedings and the goods are found to infringe the relevant IP rights, customs officials may seize the goods. The right holder is then informed, and the seized goods are either destroyed under official supervision, or disposed of outside normal trade channels by the customs authorities, subject to obtaining a No Objection Certificate or concurrence from the right holder.

The right holder may object to the proposed manner or mode of disposal within 20 days of being informed of it. In all cases, the costs of detention and destruction of the goods are borne by the right holder.

Exemptions

Goods of a non-commercial nature contained in personal baggage, or sent in small consignments intended for personal use, fall outside the scope of these Rules.

Summary of Key Timelines