Provisional Translation
| OTO No. | 582 | Classification | MOF-108 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Speeding up of procedures relating to certification of designs and other intellectual property rights | ||
| Details of Measures | Description of Complaint: 1. When fishing rods are imported, it takes from one to six months to obtain certification that the products are not prohibited from being imported because of infractions to design rights under Article 21 of the Customs Tariff Law. Since fishing rods are a seasonal product, this hampers the import and sale of such products. 2. The likely reason for this is that Customs officers examining intellectual property are unable to conduct design certification of fishing rods. After deciding that all the products might violate design rights, they depend solely on certification by the design rights holder. 3. Therefore, except in cases where a considerable amount of specialized technical knowledge or trade secrets is necessary, certification of intellectual property such as design, etc. should be done by Customs alone, since it has officers in charge of examining intellectual property. Also, in the case of new products or products imported in small quantities, certification procedures for design rights for fishing rods should be speeded up, for example by setting up a network to share information on intellectual property rights among various Customs houses. The ministry replied as follows: 1. When a head of Custom considers that a cargo on import declaration infringes design or other intellectual property rights, he/she is charged with initiating procedures to determine whether the cargo infringes intellectual property rights (hereafter, "certification procedures"). In such cases, the official must give the chance to the rights holder and the importer to submit proof as to whether the cargo is in infringement, and to state their opinions. The decision of the official must be based on these proofs and opinions. This is necessary to ensure the transparency of the certification procedures. 2. Certification procedures are generally completed within one month after the day following notification of commencement of certification procedures to the intellectual property rights holder and the importer, and efforts are made to complete certification procedures as quickly as possible. When certification procedures take longer than one month, due to unavoidable reasons, both parties are explained for the reasons for the delay. 3. Customs houses are also taking other measures to speed up certification procedures, for example by setting up a computerized search system for intellectual property rights, establishing an online system between Customs houses. 4. It should be noted that Customs does not judge that all fishing rods might violate design rights (in suspected infringement of design rights); certification procedures are begun only in cases where it is suspected that products infringe such rights. |
||
| Classification of Processing | Cc | Directions | II-a |
| Remarks | |||