Stopping Counterfeits at the Border: How Customs IP Enforcement Works in the Dominican Republic

Once a container of counterfeit goods clears customs and its contents scatter across markets and storefronts, a brand owner’s remedies get slow and expensive. Dominican law is built around a cheaper alternative: stopping the shipment at the pier.

Intellectual Property Law 20-00, together with the statute implementing the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement, lets a rights holder who suspects an infringing import is being prepared ask a court, as a preventive measure, to order customs to suspend the goods’ release into free circulation. If counterfeit goods are detected, the customs administration (DGA) must notify the rights holder within five days, disclosing the consignor, the importer, the consignee and the quantity of goods, precisely the information needed to bring the follow-on action.

Copyright gets parallel treatment. Under Copyright Law 65-00 and the DR-CAFTA implementation statute, the owner of a copyright or related right who suspects that infringing goods are about to be imported, exported or moved in transit may request the suspension of their release, and the authorities must prevent the export of counterfeit goods or their diversion into another customs regime, save exceptional circumstances.

The registry that makes it work

Border measures are only as fast as the officer’s ability to recognize the brand. That is why, on August 4, 2010, Resolution 01-2010 created the DGA’s Register of Owners of Intellectual Property Rights, designed to speed inspection and retention of goods suspected of infringing IP rights, the operational backbone of the border-enforcement chapter (Chapter XV) of DR-CAFTA.

Recordation is open to holders of rights registered before ONAPI (industrial property) or ONDA (copyright), and to their licensees at the owner’s request. It lasts two years and is renewable. An owner without an ONDA certificate may instead submit sufficient evidence of ownership.

The strategic point is timing: recording your rights with customs before an infringement appears turns border enforcement from an emergency litigation project into routine insurance. Brand owners who wait until the first counterfeit shipment usually pay for both.

Our IP professionals record rights holders in the DGA registry and represent them through seizures and enforcement, if your brand sells in this market, the registry should already know it.

Do you want more information about Dominican Republic Customs IP Enforcement services? Contact Us.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Felipe Castillo is a Partner leading the Foreign Investment, Real Estate & Tourism areas at Arthur & Castillo Advisers and Consultants in the Dominican Republic. He specializes in foreign investment, real estate and international business (Master in International Business, Entrepreneurship and Finance Studies from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. & Masters in International E- Business in Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona) with more than 20 years of experience in Foreign Investment, Free Trade Zones, International Business and Cross Border Real Estate practice. He is a Certified Business Bankruptcy Expert and English and Spanish Interpreter.

Email: fcastillo@aclaw.com

Disclaimer: This publication is not intended to provide advice or suggest a guaranteed outcome as individual situations will differ and the situation may have changed since publication. For specific advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.

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