FRANKFURT and MUNICH, Germany, September 26 /PRNewswire/ --     This was not how a Chinese exhibitor had imagined his start at the IAA
International Motor Show in Frankfurt. As early as on the second press day,
which is even before the trade days and the public days, a group of customs
officers in uniform, accompanied by two patent attorneys, cleared the newly
set-up trade fair stand, seizing counterfeits of windscreen wipers and
packagings, which, to all appearances, infringe patents held by a French
automotive supplier.

During this action, which attracted a lot of attention, a mobile customs
group having special powers was employed at the IAA for the first time. This
unit had been requested especially for checking exhibitors from non-EU
countries. Surprisingly, only one single company had its rights enforced at
the IAA, despite the current commotion in connection with market damage
caused by illegal imitations from the Far East. Patent attorneys JÃŒrgen
Strass and Bernhard Fuchs of the Munich law firm Prinz & Partner, who had
prepared and successfully carried out the seizure on behalf of their client,
pointed out that the new possibilities of preserving evidence within the
framework of criminal proceedings, which were introduced especially for trade
fairs, are still largely unknown among patent owners. One customs officer
added "The reason is definitely not that there are no other counterfeits at
the IAA".

In contrast to clearly apparent imitations of known branded products, an
infringement of technical property rights (patents and utility models) cannot
be assessed without the relevant technical knowledge. Therefore, customs
authorities increasingly depend on the assistance of the injured companies
and their patent attorneys. In response to specific clues given by the
property rights owner, the customs' mobile control group will inspect the
stands of any suspect exhibitors. Upon affirmation by the technically and
legally qualified attorneys on the spot, the property rights infringing goods
will be seized then and there. Criminal proceedings will be instituted
against the responsible persons.

The patent attorneys of Prinz & Partner praised the simplified rules of
procedure, which were elaborated by the competent principal customs office of
Darmstadt in coordination with the Frankfurt public prosecutor's office and
are referred to by the customs internally as the "Darmstadt model", saying,
"Besides the known procedures under civil law, companies at trade fairs now
have a straightforward, very effective instrument against suppliers of
counterfeit products at their disposal."

Though the responsible persons of the exhibitor accused at the IAA need
not really fear serious criminal prosecution by the German public prosecutor
in China, for them the trade fair is over: All of the seized goods and
related catalog pages will be destroyed.

Contact:

    JÃŒrgen Strass
    Prinz & Partner GbR
    PatentanwÀlte - European Patent and Trademark Attorneys
    Rundfunkplatz 2, 80335 MÃŒnchen, Germany
    Tel: +49-89-599887-0
    Fax: +49-89-599887-211
    http://www.prinz.eu
    J.Strass@prinz.eu