| Counterfeiting and piracy are present in every sector of activities; hurting legitimate businesses and the economy, impairing international trade, causing serious threats to public safety and attracting organized criminal organizations. Customs authorities can play a key role against the importation of infringing goods by apprehending these goods at the borders before they enter circulation. The present thesis advocates a new and improved Canadian scheme of border enforcement of IP rights with respect to infringing imports of trademark and copyright protected materials. It argues that the Canadian scheme is not consistent with Article 41(1) of the TRIPs Agreement for it is not "effective". It proposes legislative changes to the Canadian Copyright and Trademark Acts to remove the requirement of a court order before customs' action and to allow customs to act ex officio. |
