Study On The Customs Protection System Of Intellectual Property Rights In The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

Customs Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is a kind of administrative measures. The Authority, especially the Customs, take various measures including detention and suspension at the import and export, to prevent the goods which infringe the IPR from getting into circulation in a country. It is also known as "the most effective methods of administrative remedies".This thesis aims at analyzing the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which announced at December3th,2010, and exploring the differences between the Customs Protection System of the ACTA and that of the TRIPs agreement. Then compare the Customs Protection System of the ACTA with the current legal system of our country. In order to find effective countermeasures, this thesis try to forecast the influence of the Customs Protection System built by ACTA on our businesses and industries, based on a lot of comparison.This thesis, which is about20thousand words, is divided into five parts, disregarding the introduction.Part Ⅰ:General overview. This part, firstly, defines the concept of Customs Protection System of IPR, then, discusses the importance of the system to intellectual property protection. Considering the nature of the Customs Protection System, in order to protect the public interest, it is wise to protect the IPR properly. At last, introduce the background of the ACTA briefly.Part Ⅱ discusses the differences between the Customs Protection System of the ACTA and that of the TRIPs agreement. First, the ranges of the protected objects are different, for example, the types of intellectual property which are required to apply to customs protection measures are widened, the types of the infringement which should be applied to the customs protection measures are widened, the stages of import and export which are required to apply to customs protection measures are expanded, the goods which should be keep out of the applying is decreased. Second, the power awarded to the Customs is expanded. For example, at borders, the Customs may act on suspect goods on their own initiative, the information which are required to disclose to the parties by Customs are expanded. Third, the procedures of the customs protection measures are more convenient and more effective, such as. the procedures of application are more convenient, the forms of the warranty or guarantee are varied, and remedies for damage are more efficiently. Forth, the restrictions on the rights of the respondents are increased. This part also analysis the issue of parallel imports.Part Ⅲ iscusses the differences between the Customs Protection System of the ACTA and that of the current legal system of China, for example, the cargo in the stage of export, the cargo in transit, small consignment and the goods of a non-commercial nature contained in travellers’ ersonal luggage, should these cargo can be applied to the Customs Protection Measures? There are some differences between the ACTA and the legal system of China on the attitudes of counter-guarantee.Part IV discusses the impact of customs protection system built by ACTA. It increases the level of protection. It also increases the cost of international trade, and leads to a generation of new barriers to international trade.Part V provides suggestions for legal improvement of our country responding to the customs protection system of the ACTA. ACTA will bring negative impact on Chinese enterprises; the enterprises of China can take appropriate measures to avoid the risk regarding of the goods in transit, and deal with the suspected goods appropriately, in order to meet the new challenges brought by the ACTA.