Counterfeiting

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Last updated: 20 July 2026

Source: https://www.zoll.de/DE/Fachthemen/Verbote-Beschraenkungen/Gewerblicher-Rechtsschutz/Marken-und-Produktpiraterie/Antrag/Antrag-nach-Gemeinschaftsrecht/antrag-nach-gemeinschaftsrecht.html

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Definition & Explanation

Counterfeiting (product piracy) is the commercial manufacture of and trade in goods that infringe intellectual property rights — such as fake branded clothing, copied spare parts or imitated electronics, often carrying a forged CE marking. For logistics the issue is a daily reality: counterfeits travel as ordinary freight or parcel shipments and are frequently only discovered at import. Rights holders can file an application for action with the customs authorities; suspicious consignments are then detained under the border seizure procedure of Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 and, as a rule, destroyed. Freight forwarders and customs declarants should be alert to suspiciously cheap branded goods, unclear shippers or misdeclared goods descriptions, since carriers too can be drawn into proceedings. In e-commerce, the Digital Services Act obliges platforms to act against counterfeit listings. Not to be confused with legal parallel imports of genuine goods (grey market), which do not infringe IP rights.

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