In an effort to combat shipments of counterfeit and inauthentic products across borders, we regularly record our clients’ registered trademark rights with national Customs offices. Based on these recorded rights, local Customs officers inspect and flag shipments of goods that bear our clients’ trademarks without authorization. When a suspicious shipment is flagged, we receive a notification and photos of the detained goods so that we can review the drives and determine the authenticity of the shipment. If the shipment is determined to be counterfeit after inspection, Customs will seize and destroy the goods and may institute penalties against the parties involved.
These programs are relatively inexpensive to set up and maintain compared to other kinds of enforcement actions, and they often yield significant results that easily justify the upfront investment. Our firm recently handled a case in Vietnam that illustrated the value that these recordals can provide. In response to a rise in counterfeiting activity that one of our clients was experiencing in Vietnam, we worked to record this client’s registered trademark rights with the Vietnam Customs office. In early 2026, as a direct result of our recordals, we received a notice from the Customs in Vietnam of a suspicious shipment with a declared value 3.5 billion VND (approximately USD 140,000). The client’s internal team reviewed the photos from the shipment and determined that both products were counterfeit. Based on these findings, we filed a request to suspend the shipment; further review confirmed that all inspected products were counterfeit, and the shipment was seized for destruction.
Given the unusually high value of the shipment, the local Customs office held a press conference on the case. The media’s coverage was very favorable for our client and also served as a deterrent to other infringers in the region.
In addition to the destruction of the counterfeit products, the authorities also issued a sanction decision against the importer of the counterfeits. Taking into account the significant monetary value of the shipment, the authorities imposed a fine of VND 500 million (approximately USD 20,000), the maximum fine that the authority may impose for counterfeit goods. This is one of the most severe sanctions handed down by authorities in the past few years. This landmark penalty decision will serve to deter other likeminded infringers. As an added bonus, the case also led to excellent PR for the client as the Customs held a press conference due to the unusually high value of the case. The media coverage was very favorable to the client and put infringers on notice that this client actively polices their brand rights, furthering the deterrent effect of the decision.
