When importing goods into the United States one must be mindful of infringing on another entities trademark rights as well as the copyright or patents. Even goods bearing a valid United States trademark that is imported without the consent of the United States trademark holder is an act of trademark infringement. These type of goods are known as gray-market goods and can also be seized by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Gray-market goods, or parallel imports, are genuine products possessing a brand name protected by a trademark or copyright. They are typically manufactured abroad, and purchased and imported into the United States by third parties, thereby bypassing the authorized U.S. distribution channels. Retailers are able to sell these products at a discount because the gray market arbitrages international discrepancies in manufacturers pricing systems.
There is something called the first sale doctrine which can operate as a defense to a copyright infringement action but only where the disputed copies of a copyrighted work were either made or previously sold in the United States with the authority of the copyright owner. However that defense does not apply when the sale involves foreign made nonpirated copies of a U.S. copyrighted work unless those same copies have already been sold in the United States with the copyright owner’s authority.
Located in Los Angeles, California, Robert G. Klein, Esq. is a Los Angeles trademark infringement attorney who concentrates on business litigation. He emphasizes on trademark infringement, unfair competition and trade secret litigation. Los Angeles trademark infringement lawyer Robert G. Klein has acted as lead counsel in approximately 60 trials. He has successfully obtained many multi-million dollar jury verdicts. Many of Mr. Klein’s court decisions have been published as case authority and he has appeared before the United States Supreme Court for oral argument. Mr. Klein has also published “Consumer List: Trade Secret or Fair Game?”, which is an article published in the Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine. Los Angeles trademark infringement attorney Robert G. Klein can be reached at (213) 996-8508 or visit our web site at http://www.kleinlitigation.com