Important Current Information

™ ™

Click Here for new information on FSC- First Sale Coalition

Click Here for new information on Decoded Product Specimens

Click Here For Important New Information About The Protect IP Act

Companies may be forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, and lose their imported goods in seizure or forfeiture actions, for infringement of U.S. Copyright law if they import a product made outside the U.S., or which cannot be proven to have been made in the U.S. This is the impact of the recent Second Circuit Decision in Wiley v. Kirtsaeng which held that the "first sale" protection under U.S. Copyright law does not apply to foreign-made goods, even if manufactured under authority of a US copyright holder. Click here to read the Court's decision. CBP may soon be authorized to provide confidential commercial information about imports to owners of copyrights and trademarks regarding the importation of products, their source and distribution. This fall, Congress will consider legislation which will authorize CBP to provide samples, along with their labels, immediate and outer packaging to intellectual property owners without removing any commercially sensitive information. The legislation is strongly supported by the Administration and Intellectual property owners. If you are a U.S. importer, or resell imported merchandise ask yourself these questions: 1) Do you know absolutely and without any doubt exactly where your products were originally manufactured? Do you have enough proof of place-of-manufacture to convince CBP? Not who manufactured them - but where they were manufactured. Because according to the Court's decision, knowing that a U.S. company authorized the manufacture of the goods isn't good enough. If you don't know that the product was manufactured in a U.S. manufacturing facility, you can be found guilty of copyright infringement if that product with a copyrighted label was actually manufactured in an overseas facility and was imported without authority of the U.S. copyright owner. 2) Do you know what each and every code on a product's packaging identifies? Because according to legislation brand owners want the Congress to pass this year, protecting codes necessary for recall isn't good enough. U.S. brand owners are entitled to see all packaging on all imported products if there is any reason to believe that the product being imported infringes or may infringe a U.S. intellectual property right. The stakes are huge as American consumers face dwindling supplies of critical consumer goods and rights holders are aggressively urging Courts and Congress to expand their ability to control global trade. The question is no longer whether or not the products are genuine - the question is whether you have any the ability at all to distribute imported products if you cannot prove exactly where they were made. And, even if you can get them into the country, will there be retailers willing to purchase your inventory without similar guarantees and assurances? Do U.S. importers have any protections under U.S. laws for legitimate U.S. business intended to provide U.S. consumers with a competitive marketplace in non-counterfeit, non-infringing consumer goods? Your support is urgently needed; the work is monumental and we cannot prevail without you. If you are not yet a member of AFTA, please click here and join today. Help AFTA fight on the Hill, in the Courts and through federal rulemaking to make sure first sale protection is available to all U.S. importers of genuine merchandise and that U.S. importers are as able as any other U.S. business to protect confidentiality of their supply chains. For further information, please contact AFTA at afta@aftaus.com or 1-800-600-4179.

U.S. IMPORTERS UNDER ATTACK NO FIRST SALE PROTECTION NO PROTECTION AGAINST DISCLOSURE OF PROPRIETARY SUPPLY CHAIN INFORMATION