Provisional Translation
| OTO No. | 581 | Classification | MOF-107 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of Acceptance | September 1, 1998 | Ministry/Agency Receiving Complaint | Economic Planning Agency |
| Responsible Ministries | Ministry of Finance | Related Laws | Customs Tariff Law |
| Complainant | Domestic firm | Exporting Countries | South Korea |
| Subject | Simplification of import procedures for products made under patent | ||
| Details of Measures | Description of Complaint: 1. When importing fishing rods made under patents held by Japanese companies, the exporter must prepare an Annex (certificate of patent use) and obtain an agreement from the patent holder regarding this Annex, and present both documents to Customs each time the products are imported. 2. However, in the case of planned imports of the same product, the complainant believes that it is not necessary to check the approval of patent use each time. 3. Therefore, in the case of planned imports of the same product, the complainant believes that import procedures for products made under patent should be simplified, by registering the Annex and agreement presented initially to make it possible to use them for a certain specific period. The ministry replied as follows: 1. Cargoes on import declarations are checked by Customs for any infringements of intellectual property rights, such as trademark or design rights. When imported cargoes are suspected of infringing such rights, the importer and the rights holder are required to submit documents concerning the cargo in question. Therefore, the documents do not necessarily need to be presented to Customs each time. 2. Customs takes special care in cases where a holder of design or other rights has requested them to stop import and to provide information. Therefore, in future cases where infringement of rights is suspected, the importer will be requested to submit documents, even if the product imported is the same. 3. An Annex certifying country of origin is necessary to obtain preferential tariff rates and does not need to be submitted to Customs for any other purpose. |
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| Classification of Processing | Cc | Directions | II-a |
| Remarks | |||