Customs Recordal Now Available In Canada To Combat Counterfeit Goods

In January 2015, portions of the Canadian Combating Counterfeit Products Act ("CCPA") came into force enabling IP rights holders to record their copyright and registered trademark rights with the Canada Border Services Agency ("CBSA") in an effort to stop counterfeit goods before they enter the Canadian market.

Amendments to the Canadian Trade-marks Act, which stem from the CCPA, create a new statutory prohibition against the import or export of goods whose labels or packaging bear, without the consent of the owner of a registered trademark for such goods, a trademark that is identical to, or that cannot be distinguished in its essential aspects from, that registered trademark (i.e. counterfeit goods). Similar amendments to the Copyright Act create a statutory prohibition against importing or exporting infringing copies of a work.