US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 19USC1526]

 
                        TITLE 19--CUSTOMS DUTIES
 
                      CHAPTER 4--TARIFF ACT OF 1930
 
                 SUBTITLE III--ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
 
       Part III--Ascertainment, Collection, and Recovery of Duties
 
Sec. 1526. Merchandise bearing American trade-mark


(a) Importation prohibited

    Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, it shall be 
unlawful to import into the United States any merchandise of foreign 
manufacture if such merchandise, or the label, sign, print, package, 
wrapper, or receptacle, bears a trademark owned by a citizen of, or by a 
corporation or association created or organized within, the United 
States, and registered in the Patent and Trademark Office by a person 
domiciled in the United States, under the provisions of sections 81 to 
109 of title 15, and if a copy of the certificate of registration of 
such trademark is filed with the Secretary of the Treasury, in the 
manner provided in section 106 of said title 15, unless written consent 
of the owner of such trademark is produced at the time of making entry.

(b) Seizure and forfeiture

    Any such merchandise imported into the United States in violation of 
the provisions of this section shall be subject to seizure and 
forfeiture for violation of the customs laws.

(c) Injunction and damages

    Any person dealing in any such merchandise may be enjoined from 
dealing therein within the United States or may be required to export or 
destroy such merchandise or to remove or obliterate such trademark and 
shall be liable for the same damages and profits provided for wrongful 
use of a trade-mark, under the provisions of sections 81 to 109 of title 
15.

(d) Exemptions; publication in Federal Register; forfeitures; rules and 
        regulations

    (1) The trademark provisions of this section and section 1124 of 
title 15, do not apply to the importation of articles accompanying any 
person arriving in the United States when such articles are for his 
personal use and not for sale if (A) such articles are within the limits 
of types and quantities determined by the Secretary pursuant to 
paragraph (2) of this subsection, and (B) such person has not been 
granted an exemption under this subsection within thirty days 
immediately preceding his arrival.
    (2) The Secretary shall determine and publish in the Federal 
Register lists of the types of articles and the quantities of each which 
shall be entitled to the exemption provided by this subsection. In 
determining such quantities of particular types of trade-marked 
articles, the Secretary shall give such consideration as he deems 
necessary to the numbers of such articles usually purchased at retail 
for personal use.
    (3) If any article which has been exempted from the restrictions on 
importation of the trade-mark laws under this subsection is sold within 
one year after the date of importation, such article, or its value (to 
be recovered from the importer), is subject to forfeiture. A sale 
pursuant to a judicial order or in liquidation of the estate of a 
decedent is not subject to the provisions of this paragraph.
    (4) The Secretary may prescribe such rules and regulations as may be 
necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection.

(e) Merchandise bearing counterfeit mark; seizure and forfeiture; 
        disposition of seized goods

    Any such merchandise bearing a counterfeit mark (within the meaning 
of section 1127 of title 15) imported into the United States in 
violation of the provisions of section 1124 of title 15, shall be seized 
and, in the absence of the written consent of the trademark owner, 
forfeited for violations of the customs laws. Upon seizure of such 
merchandise, the Secretary shall notify the owner of the trademark, and 
shall, after forfeiture, destroy the merchandise. Alternatively, if the 
merchandise is not unsafe or a hazard to health, and the Secretary has 
the consent of the trademark owner, the Secretary may obliterate the 
trademark where feasible and dispose of the goods seized--
        (1) by delivery to such Federal, State, and local government 
    agencies as in the opinion of the Secretary have a need for such 
    merchandise,
        (2) by gift to such eleemosynary institutions as in the opinion 
    of the Secretary have a need for such merchandise, or
        (3) more than 90 days after the date of forfeiture, by sale by 
    the Customs Service at public auction under such regulations as the 
    Secretary prescribes, except that before making any such sale the 
    Secretary shall determine that no Federal, State, or local 
    government agency or eleemosynary institution has established a need 
    for such merchandise under paragraph (1) or (2).

(f) Civil penalties

    (1) Any person who directs, assists financially or otherwise, or 
aids and abets the importation of merchandise for sale or public 
distribution that is seized under subsection (e) of this section shall 
be subject to a civil fine.
    (2) For the first such seizure, the fine shall be not more than the 
value that the merchandise would have had if it were genuine, according 
to the manufacturer's suggested retail price, determined under 
regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
    (3) For the second seizure and thereafter, the fine shall be not 
more than twice the value that the merchandise would have had if it were 
genuine, as determined under regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
    (4) The imposition of a fine under this subsection shall be within 
the discretion of the Customs Service, and shall be in addition to any 
other civil or criminal penalty or other remedy authorized by law.

(June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title IV, Sec. 526, 46 Stat. 741; Pub. L. 93-
596, Sec. 3, Jan. 2, 1975, 88 Stat. 1949; Pub. L. 95-410, title II, 
Sec. 211(a), (c), Oct. 3, 1978, 92 Stat. 903; Pub. L. 103-182, title VI, 
Se