CHAPTER IIAPPLICATIONS

SECTION 1Submission of applications

Article 3Entitlement to submit an application

The following persons and entities shall, to the extent they are entitled to initiate proceedings, in order to determine whether an intellectual property right has been infringed, in the United Kingdom, be entitled to submit an application:

(1)

right-holders;

(2)

intellectual property rights management collective bodies;

(3)

persons or entities authorised to use intellectual property rights, which have been authorised formally by the right-holder to initiate proceedings in order to determine whether the intellectual property right has been infringed.

Article 4Intellectual property rights covered by Union applications

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Article 5Submission of applications1.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Applications shall be submitted to the competent customs department. The applications shall be completed using the form referred to in Article 6 and shall contain the information required therein.

Where an application is submitted after notification by the customs authorities of the suspension of the release or detention of the goods in accordance with Article 18(3), that application shall comply with the following:

(a)

it is submitted to the competent customs department within four working days of the notification of the suspension of the release or detention of the goods;

(b)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(c)

it contains the information referred to in Article 6(3). The applicant may, however, omit the information referred to in point (g), (h) or (i) of that paragraph.

Only one application may be submitted for the same intellectual property right.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Where computerised systems are available for the purpose of receiving and processing applications, applications as well as attachments shall be submitted using electronic data-processing techniques....

Article 6Application form1.

The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs shall establish an application form.

The application form shall specify the information that has to be provided to the data subject pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).

The ... following information is required of the applicant in the application form:

(a)

details concerning the applicant;

(b)

the status, within the meaning of Article 3, of the applicant;

(c)

documents providing evidence to satisfy the competent customs department that the applicant is entitled to submit the application;

(d)

where the applicant submits the application by means of a representative, details of the person representing him and evidence of that person’s powers to act as representative, in accordance with the legislation of the United Kingdom;

(e)

the intellectual property right or rights to be enforced;

(f)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(g)

specific and technical data on the authentic goods, including markings such as bar-coding and images where appropriate;

(h)

the information needed to enable the customs authorities to readily identify the goods in question;

(i)

information relevant to the customs authorities’ analysis and assessment of the risk of infringement of the intellectual property right or the intellectual property rights concerned, such as the authorised distributors;

(j)

whether information provided in accordance with point (g), (h) or (i) of this paragraph is to be marked for restricted handling ...;

(k)

the details of any representative designated by the applicant to take charge of legal and technical matters;

(l)

an undertaking by the applicant to notify the competent customs department of any of the situations laid down in Article 15;

(m)

an undertaking by the applicant to forward and update any information relevant to the customs authorities’ analysis and assessment of the risk of infringement of the intellectual property right(s) concerned;

(n)

an undertaking by the applicant to assume liability under the conditions laid down in Article 28;

(o)

an undertaking by the applicant to bear the costs referred to in Article 29 under the conditions laid down in that Article;

(p)

an agreement by the applicant that the data provided by him may be processed by the United Kingdom;

(q)

whether the applicant requests the use of the procedure referred to in Article 26 and, where requested by the customs authorities, agrees to cover the costs related to destruction of goods under that procedure.

SECTION 2Decisions on applications

Article 7Processing of incomplete applications1.

Where, on receipt of an application, the competent customs department considers that the application does not contain all the information required by Article 6(3), the competent customs department shall request the applicant to supply the missing information within 10 working days of notification of the request.

In such cases, the time-limit referred to in Article 9(1) shall be suspended until the relevant information is received.

Where the applicant does not provide the missing information within the period referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, the competent customs department shall reject the application.

Article 8Fees

The applicant shall not be charged a fee to cover the administrative costs resulting from the processing of the application.

Article 9Notification of decisions granting or rejecting applications1.

The competent customs department shall notify the applicant of its decision granting or rejecting the application within 30 working days of the receipt of the application. In the event of rejection, the competent customs department shall provide reasons for its decision and include information on the appeal procedure.

If the applicant has been notified of the suspension of the release or the detention of the goods by the customs authorities before the submission of an application, the competent customs department shall notify the applicant of its decision granting or rejecting the application within two working days of the receipt of the application.

Article 10Decisions concerning applications1.

A decision granting an application and any decision revoking it or amending it shall take effect in the United Kingdom from the day following the date of adoption.

A decision extending the period during which customs authorities are to take action shall take effect in the United Kingdom in which the national application was submitted on the day following the date of expiry of the period to be extended.

...

Article 11Period during which the customs authorities are to take action1.

When granting an application, the competent customs department shall specify the period during which the customs authorities are to take action.

That period shall begin on the day the decision granting the application takes effect, pursuant to Article 10, and shall not exceed one year from the day following the date of adoption.

Where an application submitted after notification by the customs authorities of the suspension of the release or detention of the goods in accordance with Article 18(3) does not contain the information referred to in point (g), (h) or (i) of Article 6(3), it shall be granted only for the suspension of the release or detention of those goods, unless that information is provided within 10 working days after the notification of the suspension of the release or detention of the goods.

Where an intellectual property right ceases to have effect or where the applicant ceases for other reasons to be entitled to submit an application, no action shall be taken by the customs authorities. The decision granting the application shall be revoked or amended accordingly by the competent customs department that granted the decision.

Article 12Extension of the period during which the customs authorities are to take action1.

On expiry of the period during which the customs authorities are to take action, and subject to the prior discharge by the holder of the decision of any debt owed to the customs authorities under this Regulation, the competent customs department which adopted the initial decision may, at the request of the holder of the decision, extend that period.

Where the request for extension of the period during which the customs authorities are to take action is received by the competent customs department less than 30 working days before the expiry of the period to be extended, it may refuse that request.

The competent customs department shall notify its decision on the extension to the holder of the decision within 30 working days of the receipt of the request referred to in paragraph 1. The competent customs department shall specify the period during which the customs authorities are to take action.

The extended period during which the customs authorities are to take action shall run from the day following the date of expiry of the previous period and shall not exceed one year.

Where an intellectual property right ceases to have effect or where the applicant ceases for other reasons to be entitled to submit an application, no action shall be taken by the customs authorities. The decision granting the extension shall be revoked or amended accordingly by the competent customs department that granted the decision.

The holder of the decision shall not be charged a fee to cover the administrative costs resulting from the processing of the request for extension.

The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs shall establish an extension request form.

Article 13Amending the decision with regard to intellectual property rights.

The competent customs department that adopted the decision granting the application may, at the request of the holder of that decision, modify the list of intellectual property rights in that decision.

Where a new intellectual property right is added, the request shall contain the information referred to in points (c), (e), (g), (h) and (i) of Article 6(3).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Article 14Notification obligations of the competent customs department1.

The competent customs department to which a national application has been submitted shall forward the following decisions to the customs offices ..., immediately after their adoption:

(a)

decisions granting the application;

(b)

decisions revoking decisions granting the application;

(c)

decisions amending decisions granting the application;

(d)

decisions extending the period during which the customs authorities are to take action.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The competent customs department shall forward its decision suspending the actions of the customs authorities under ... Article 16(2) to the customs offices ..., immediately after its adoption.

Article 15Notification obligations of the holder of the decision

The holder of the decision shall immediately notify the competent customs department that granted the application of any of the following:

(a)

an intellectual property right covered by the application ceases to have effect;

(b)

the holder of the decision ceases for other reasons to be entitled to submit the application;

(c)

modifications to the information referred to in Article 6(3).

Article 16Failure of the holder of the decision to fulfil his obligations1.

Where the holder of the decision uses the information provided by the customs authorities for purposes other than those provided for in Article 21, the competent customs department ... may:

(a)

revoke any decision adopted by it granting an application to that holder of the decision, and refuse to extend the period during which the customs authorities are to take action;

(b)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The competent customs department may decide to suspend the actions of the customs authorities until the expiry of the period during which those authorities are to take action, where the holder of the decision:

(a)

does not fulfil the notification obligations set out in Article 15;

(b)

does not fulfil the obligation on returning samples set out in Article 19(3);

(c)

does not fulfil the obligations on costs and translation set out in Article 29(1) and (3);

(d)

without valid reason does not initiate proceedings as provided for in Article 23(3) or Article 26(9).

...