The most effective intervention against counterfeit goods happens not after the product has reached the market, but before it crosses the border. When a container full of counterfeit goods is stopped at customs, there is no need to chase down the same products one by one across hundreds of points of sale. This article covers how the customs measure mechanism works, what the brand owner needs to do, and the risk exporters face in the opposite direction.
What Is a Customs Measure?
A customs measure is the suspension of customs procedures for goods suspected of infringing an industrial property right. Its purpose is to temporarily prevent the allegedly infringing product from entering free circulation, giving the rights holder the opportunity to pursue legal remedies.
The mechanism's most important feature is that it is preventive. Because the product has not reached the market yet, no harm has occurred yet either. In this sense, a customs measure sits in a different place from remedies like litigation and criminal complaints, which act after the fact.
It Is Not a Self-Operating System
The most common misconception is that customs will automatically catch counterfeit goods on its own. It is not realistic to expect a customs officer to recognise your brand among thousands of others, or to tell an original from a counterfeit.
For the system to work, the brand owner needs to file a customs application in advance. This application provides the customs authority with:
- The registered trademark's certificate details and the classes it covers
- Images of the original product and its distinguishing features
- Criteria for identifying counterfeits (labels, packaging, serial numbers, stitching, print quality, etc.)
- A list of authorised importers, distributors and manufacturers
- Known sources of infringement and suspect countries of origin
- Contact details for the brand owner and their representative
The more detailed and up to date this information package is, the higher the chance that customs stops the right shipment. Failing to keep the authorised importer list current can even lead to your own genuine products being detained.
The Precondition: Registration
A customs measure is based on registered industrial property rights. If your trademark is not registered, you cannot use this mechanism — no matter how long you have been using that name.
This is a concrete example of why registration is not just about "getting a certificate." Registration hands you the key to a whole toolkit, from customs to marketplaces, from criminal complaints to damages claims. We compiled the cost of staying unregistered in 10 Risks of Not Registering Your Trademark.
How Does the Process Work?
- Pre-application: The brand owner files an application with the customs authority and submits the information package. The application is valid for a set period.
- Identifying suspect goods: When customs detects a shipment matching the submitted criteria, it suspends the procedure.
- Notification: The brand owner is notified of the situation. This is the moment the clock starts running.
- Inspection: The brand owner or their representative inspects the goods to assess whether they are counterfeit. A sample may be taken.
- Legal step: If the goods are found to be counterfeit, an interim injunction must be obtained from the competent court, or legal proceedings must be initiated, within the statutory period.
- Outcome: If the process resolves in your favour, destruction or removal of the goods from commerce follows.
Watch the Clock: The Most Critical Stage
The riskiest point in this process is the transition between the fourth and fifth steps. Customs cannot hold goods indefinitely. If the brand owner does not act within the statutory period, the goods are released and enter the market.
That is why hours matter once a customs notification arrives. A well-prepared brand owner needs three things ready in advance: an up-to-date contact channel for receiving notifications, an authorised person who can inspect the product and produce a report, and a legal team that can file a court application quickly.
Destruction and What Follows
If infringement is confirmed at the end of the process, destruction of the counterfeit goods follows. In some cases a simplified procedure applies: if the owner of the goods does not object, the products can be destroyed through a shorter process.
Destruction is usually costly, and who bears that cost is a separate question. Against that, the harm caused if the products reach the market — lost sales, reputational damage, customer complaints — far exceeds the cost of destruction.
The Other Direction: The Risk Exporters Face
A customs measure works both ways. Just as you can stop counterfeit goods entering Turkey, your own products can be detained in the country they are shipped to.
Here is the scenario: you export your product to Germany, but the same brand is registered there to someone else. If that person has filed their own customs application, your shipment gets stopped at the border. The result: delay, warehousing costs, contract penalties, and sometimes the total loss of the shipment.
This risk means every exporting company needs to register in its target markets. We compared the options in our articles on the Madrid Protocol and the EU Trademark (EUTM).
Transit and Free Zone Situations
Cases where goods are not imported into Turkey but only pass through in transit, or are processed in a free zone, call for separate treatment. In these regimes the goods technically do not enter free circulation, but shipments carrying an infringement risk can still be subject to customs inspection.
Given that counterfeit goods in international trade are frequently routed through transit countries, monitoring this area becomes important for larger brand owners.
Using Customs Measures Alongside Other Remedies
A customs measure is not a solution on its own — it is one point of intervention. An effective anti-counterfeiting program runs three tracks together:
| Tool | When it applies | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Customs measure | While the product is at the border | Blocks market entry, destruction |
| Criminal complaint | While the product is on the market | Search and seizure, imprisonment/fines |
| Civil lawsuit | After the harm has occurred | Damages, injunction, destruction |
A shipment detained at customs is also a strong source of evidence for a criminal complaint: the importer is identified, the quantity is documented, and the origin is on record. We covered how the criminal process works in Trademark Infringement: Criminal Penalties in Turkey.
Keeping Your Application Up to Date
Customs applications are time-limited, and protection lapses if they are not renewed. The following changes also need to be reported:
- New registrations added to your trademark portfolio
- Changes to your list of authorised importers and distributors
- Updates to product packaging and label design
- Newly identified counterfeiting methods and distinguishing criteria
- Changes to contact information or representative
An application that is not kept up to date becomes ineffective over time; customs keeps searching against old criteria and misses the newer generation of counterfeits.
Counterfeits vs. Parallel Imports
Not everything detained at customs is counterfeit. Another situation brand owners frequently encounter is parallel importation: the product is genuine and was manufactured by you, but it is imported outside your authorised distribution channel.
The legal assessment of these two situations differs. A counterfeit product is a direct infringement of trademark rights. In parallel importation, the doctrine of exhaustion of rights applies, and what matters is where and by whom the product was first placed on the market.
When preparing your customs application, it is important to provide criteria that account for this distinction. Otherwise, shipments of your own genuine products can end up detained unnecessarily, damaging your customer relationships.
Common Mistakes
- Expecting protection without filing an application. Customs cannot recognise a trademark that has not been reported to it.
- Preparing a shallow information package. Sending just a logo is not enough — distinguishing production details need to be provided.
- Not keeping contact information current. If the notification does not reach you, the clock runs out and the goods are released.
- Being slow after notification. At this stage, it is a matter of hours, not days.
- Focusing only on imports. The risk on the export side is often more costly.
Which Businesses Should Prioritise This?
A customs measure is not equally critical for every business. It becomes a priority for these profiles:
- Consumer goods brands whose products are easy to counterfeit
- Businesses that compete against counterfeit imports
- Companies that manufacture abroad and carry parallel-import risk
- Businesses where brand value significantly exceeds product cost
- E-commerce brands facing heavy counterfeiting on marketplaces
Build Your Border Protection with Webx
The most efficient investment in fighting counterfeits is the intervention that happens before the product reaches the market. The precondition for that is a registered trademark and an up-to-date information package on file with the customs authority.
At Webx, we build your anti-counterfeiting program end to end — from trademark registration to your customs application, from infringement monitoring to legal proceedings. Explore our legal protection service or get in touch.