On May 18, the customs service of the Chinese Shatujiao port conducted a special operation against a suspect in smuggling, transporting industrial bearings in the cab of a car through the cargo channel of the river port. The car was detained, and 20 pcs of bearings under the brands FAG, INA and NTN were seized.

The case has been transferred to the customs department for further processing. The Chinese Customs Service recalls that, according to relevant laws and regulations, those who transport, or ship smuggled bearings will be held accountable in accordance with the local law.

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More counterfeit bearings were seized in Kurk – Russia on 22 March 2020. According to the Russian Central Customs Administration, the Swedish manufacturer SKF asked Russian customs to check the Kursk distribution network for bearings illegally marked with the SKF trademark. The manufacturer of bearings received a large number of complaints about the quality of products sold in the city.

After the release of goods, the Department for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights and customs officials checked outlets for the presence of goods imported into the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in violation of customs regulations. During the inspection, about 1,000 different bearings marked with the SKF mark were found in two outlets. Individual entrepreneurs engaged in sales did not have documents confirming the origin of the goods and the legality of their import into the EAEU, as well as permission from the copyright holder to use this trademark. Bearings were withdrawn from circulation and sent to research for the presence of intellectual property included in the Customs Register of intellectual property.

SKF has verified product authenticity. The results of the study showed that all the products presented are counterfeit, i.e. These bearings were not manufactured at any of SKF’s plants. The SKF mark was applied to products unlawfully – without the permission of the copyright holder. Neither the copyright holder nor the trademark license holder entered into any agreements with Kursk entrepreneurs on the use of this trademark. At the same time, counterfeit bearings had very low performance and did not meet SKF standards and specifications. Their use in units of equipment designed to work with original bearings could cause equipment breakdown and harm human health and the environment.

According to SKF, more than 83 thousand rubles were damaged due to the illegal use of the trademark. The copyright holder appealed to customs with a request to bring entrepreneurs to administrative responsibility for the illegal use of the SKF trademark, and to remove counterfeit products from circulation and destroy them.

After completion of the audit, all materials are transferred under the jurisdiction to the department of Rospotrebnadzor in the Kursk region to draw up a protocol on an administrative offense under Part 1 of Art. 14.10 Administrative Code (illegal use of a trademark). The sanction of the article prescribes punishment: the implementation of an administrative fine on the offender for an amount between 50 to 200 thousand rubles with confiscation of the products.

On the occasion of the 19th World Intellectual Property Day, which is celebrated annually on April 26 2020, China’s customs conducted several actions related to counterfeit bearings.

On April 25, the Dalian Customs destroyed more than 5,000 counterfeit goods, including KOYO, NTN, ZWZ and several other counterfeited brands which are known both domestically and Internationally. Since 2017, the customs service of Dalian city has examined 47 cases of counterfeit bearings and confiscated more than 45,000 goods, including bearings.