Frankfurt 
Attorneys for the Legal Representation in Border Seizure Procedures in Germany
ZELLER & SEYFERT is a German litigation law firm, which specializes in the representation of clients in border seizure proceedings before German customs authorities. Our attorneys will initiate border seizure proceedings on behalf of your company against goods suspected of infringing certain of your company’s intellectual property rights. Our attorneys will stop counterfeit goods / pirated goods at the border before these goods are offered on the German market and cause damage and loss to your company.
Our attorneys will file an application for customs action against certain counterfeit goods / pirated goods with the Central Agency for the Protection of Intellectual Property in Munich. Once approved, the customs field offices will suspend the release of subsequently seized goods or order the detention of goods specified in the application.
An application for customs action in border seizure matters can be based on one or more of the following IP rights:
- Trademarks
- Patents
- Utility Models
- Design Rights / Design Patents
- Copyrights
- Supplementary protection certificates
- Plant variety rights
- Geographical names
- Trade names
Our attorneys will also assist your company in legal actions against unauthorized parallel imports. An unauthorized parallel import is the import of a non-counterfeit product from another country into the EU / Germany without the consent of the intellectual property owner when the product was previously assigned by the IP owner for distribution only in other countries.
Legal Representation before German Courts
Our attorneys will assist and support your company in all cases comprehensively: from the application of the border seizure proceeding on behalf of your company up to the final destruction of the seized goods. If initiating a proceeding before a German court becomes necessary to maintain the detention of seized goods, our attorneys will file the appropriate legal actions before the responsible German court. In such court proceeding our attorneys will also claim damages and information on the extent of the infringement from the infringer. Our attorneys will guide your company from the beginning of the proceeding to the eventual success.
Defending your Company against Wrongful Border Seizures by the German Customs Authorities
Our attorneys will also help your company in the reverse situation: If goods of your company have been wrongfully seized by the German customs authorities, our attorneys will help your company to have these goods released and back in your possession. ZELLER & SEYFERT will represent your company in this regard both before the German customs authorities and before German courts. Before the court, our attorneys will also claim damages on behalf of your company against the applicant of the wrongful border seizure. Our attorneys will advise your company in detail on the necessary steps to get your seized products back.
Typical Cases of Application or Issues in Border Seizure Procedures:
- Product piracy
- Trademark piracy
- Counterfeit goods / pirated goods
- Counterfeiting
- Discovering and seizing counterfeit products at trade shows
- Unauthorized parallel imports
- Protection of spare parts against piracy
- Seizures of counterfeit goods by customs authorities
- Information database and information exchange between EU customs authorities (COPIS)
- Opposition to border seizures by the holder of the right of disposal
- Central Agency for the Protection of Intellectual Property (ZGR) in Munich
- Community Trade Mark (CTM) Regulation (Regulation (EC) No. 40/94)
- Border Seizure Regulation (Regulation (EC) No. 1383/2003)
- Implementing Regulation concerning the Border Seizure Regulation (Regulation (EC) No. 1891/2004)