Stopping Counterfeits at the Border: A Practitioner's Guide to CBP Recordation, Seizures, and Enforcement Programs
By Casey Scott McKay ·
This guide is the operational companion to the counterfeiting article: it assumes you know what a counterfeit mark is and spends its length on how to actually stop one at the port. It walks stage by stage through auditing a portfolio for recordability, filing through the Intellectual Property Rights e-Recordation system under Part 133 of the customs regulations, building a Product Identification Training Guide a port officer can use in ninety seconds, feeding targeting through e-Allegations and the IPR Center, and answering a detention notice inside the five-day and thirty-day clocks that govern detention, seizure, and forfeiture. It covers what CBP discloses about manufacturer, exporter, and importer after a seizure and how to convert that disclosure into a civil case, how gray-market restriction and Lever-rule petitions work, and when a Section 337 investigation and a general exclusion order at the International Trade Commission are worth the two million dollars they cost. It closes with marketplace brand registries, John Doe and Schedule A practice, criminal referral, and the annual audit that keeps the program honest. Throughout it carries model language, four cost-and-timeline tables, a forum decision tree, and one worked example running from the first port hit to final judgment.
IP and Technology > Trademarks | Guide | Published 27 September 2023 - Updated 3 March 2026 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. This is the operational companion to the counterfeiting article. It assumes you know what a counterfeit mark is and spends its length on how to stop one at the port. It walks stage by stage through auditing a portfolio for recordability, filing through CBP's Intellectual Property Rights e-Recordation system under 19 C.F.R. Part 133, building a Product Identification Training Guide a port officer can use in ninety seconds, feeding targeting through e-Allegations and the IPR Center, and answering a detention notice inside the five-day and thirty-day clocks of 19 U.S.C. § 1499 and 19 C.F.R. § 133.21. It covers what CBP discloses after seizure and how to convert that disclosure into a civil case, how gray-market restriction and Lever-rule petitions work under 19 C.F.R. §§ 133.23 and 133.2(e), and when a Section 337 investigation and a general exclusion order are worth the two million dollars they cost. It closes with marketplace registries, John Doe and Schedule A practice, criminal referral, and the annual audit that keeps the program honest — with model language, four cost-and-timeline tables, a forum decision tree, and one worked example carried from the first port hit to final judgment.
Keywords: cbp recordation · 19 c.f.r. part 133 · iprr e-recordation · counterfeit seizure · notice of detention · product identification training guide · e-allegations · lever rule · gray market goods · section 337 · exclusion order · general exclusion order · itc complaint · marketplace brand registry · schedule a litigation · ex parte seizure order · petition for relief · ipr center · civil fine · de minimis shipments
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