A hotly debated topic in several European jurisdictions has now
been decided. Can infringing goods be stopped in transit (e.g. on
their way to parts of the world where no IP rights are infringed)
or only if these are destined for European markets, where they
infringe? And if these goods are stopped in transit, can these be
considered an infringement in accordance with the laws of the
country where the goods were detained?
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down
its judgment in the joint cases C 446/09 Koninklijke Philips
Electronics NV vs Lucheng Meijing Industrial Company e.a. and
C 495/09 Nokia Corporation vs Her Majesty's Commissioners
of Revenue.
In short: customs may stop the fishy stuff, but national Courts
cannot find infringement merely on the basis of suspicions that the
goods will enter the relevant market in the EU. The so-called
"manufacturing fiction" as adopted by some Courts in the
EU, is rejected. On the basis of the
