WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
IP/C/W/571 
31 May 2012  
 
(12-2882) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS 
 
Communication from Japan 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 31 May 2012, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Japan. It provides an update d version of an earlier communication, 
dated 8 October 2007, circulated in document IP/C/W/501.  
_______________ 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. We recall that for all customs authorities, IPR enforcement at the border has become a 
challenging and complicated issue.  In this regard , customs authorities today are expected to play a 
vital role to combat global counterfeiting and piracy.  Recognizing the importance of exchanging 
views, experiences and best practices with other Me mber countries, this paper aims to share our 
experiences of IPR enforcements at the border with  other Members, introduce our recent trend on 
infringements and contribute to provide some insights into Members' border measures against 
counterfeits and pirated goods.  
II. RECENT TREND ON CUSTOMS SEIZURES OF IPR INFRINGING GOODS AND 
PROBLEMS 
2. In terms of import suspension of alleged infringing goods by Japan Customs, the number of 
cases remains more than 20,000 from 2007 to 2011.  Ho wever, the number of items suspended at the 
border has gone down from 1,039,000 in 2007 to 728,000 in 2011.  This would indicate the significant increase of small lots shipment of infringing good s while the situation of large shipment is still 
unclear.   
3. In this trend, international postal shipment  is the main transport method for suspended 
counterfeit and pirated goods.  In fact, it accounts for more than 90 per cent in suspension cases and 
more than 40 per cent in suspended articles in Japan .  This is partly because of the development of 
e-commerce.  In order to exercise physical inspec tion on international postal shipment, Japan Customs 
is requested to allocate large number of human r esources because they cannot obtain manifest data 
and entry data regarding postal shipment in advance. IP/C/W/571 
Page 2  
 
  The number of suspensions (2007-2011)
26,415
23,233 23,280
21,89322,6611,039
9441,044
631728
05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011Number of Cases
020040060080010001200(1,000)Number of ItemsCases
Items
 
 
The number of suspensions by type of cargo (2011) 
 
 Cases Articles 
General Cargo  1,389 (6.0%)  418,528 (57.5%) 
Postal Items  21,891 (94.0%)  309,706 (42.5%) 
4. In terms of the type of infringed rights, the in fringement of trademark rights has occupied vast 
majority in Japan.  In 2011, th e number of cases of trademark infringement was 22,843.  This number 
accounts for 97.5 per cent of suspensions recorded in  2011.  In terms of the number of suspended 
items, Japan Customs suspended about 567,000 go ods as trademark infringements in 2011 and it 
accounts for 77.9 per cent of the total.  The numb er of copyright infringement is about 117,000, 
followed by design infringement the number of su spended items of which is about 26,000.   
 
The number of suspensions by type of rights (2007-2011) 
Type of rights  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
Patent  Case 15 27 15 9 8 
Article 20,787 69,472 27,314 4,258 16,276 
Utility model  Case 0 0 0 0 0 
Article 0 0 0 0 0  IP/C/W/571 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Type of rights  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
Design  Case 54 80 88 56 88 
Article 90,040 91,472 81,270 49,266 26,304 
Trademark Case 22,447 26,140 21,415 22,994 22,843 
Article 877,895 685,529 768,534 519,274 567,107 
Copyright and 
related right Case 214 227 423 273 485 
Article 50,636 97,489 166,721 57,865 116,670 
Plant breeder's 
right Case 0 0 0 0 1 
Article 0 0 0 0 1,815 
Goods violating 
Unfair 
Competition 
Prevention Law Case 0 4 19 1 3 
Article 0 79 183 25 62 
 
5. In terms of the type of commodity, Japan Cu stoms has suspended a large number of fake 
brand name products specifically dominated by bags or apparels.  Pharmaceuticals which are 
considered to be threats to human's health and saf ety also constitute a large number of the suspended 
items over the past five years. 
The number of suspension by type of commodity (2007-2011) 
 
【case】 
 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 share 
Bags 16,959 19,793 15,288 15,681 14,441 51.0%
Apparel 2,656 2,178 2,409 2,576 3,125 11.0%
Footwear 1,151 1,071 1,120 1,818 2,403 8.5%
Key cases 2,476 2,853 2,309 2,125 1,620 5.7%
Watches 1,699 2,477 1,858 1,724 1,450 5.1%
Belts 883 1,097 1,294 1,204 1,153 4.1%
Accessories 379 337 334 459 625 2.2%
Mobile-phones 
and accessories 289 471 454 482 563 2.0%
Eyewear and 
accessories 148 224 352 450 488 1.7%
Pharmaceuticals 102 501 669 520 456 1.6%
 IP/C/W/571 
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  【item】 
 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 share 
Footwear 48,325 51,504 25,908 165,943 136,940 18.8%
Accessories 36,510 25,636 79,668 84,216 84,858 11.7%
Apparel 80,915 81,288 112,193 44,825 77,460 10.6%
Bags 259,377 140,560 71,947 46,415 54,015 7.4%
Pharmaceuticals 96,591 94,684 84,672 40,285 53,154 7.3%
House wares - - 28,387 21,773 39,695 5.5%
Headgear 22,892 15,718 23,202 37,163 29,476 4.0%
Mobile-phones 
and accessories 20,939 26,730 14,729 10,838 28,080 3.9%
Accessories of 
apparel 102,358 132,810 64,878 47,874 17,302 2.4%
Computer 
accessories 4,797 40,780 14,369 17,680 13,661 1.9%
 
III. COUNTERMEASURES AGAINST SMUGGLING DISGUISED AS PERSONAL USE  
6. Japan Customs considers that a number of peopl e have tried to import counterfeit and pirated 
goods by disguising them as personal use items and it accelerates the recent trend of small-lots in IPR 
enforcement at the border.  In order to tackle th is smuggling disguised as personal use items, we have 
strengthened our enforcement on sma ll-lots cargos.  In principle, Japan customs initiates enforcement 
exercises regardless of the number of items involved.   Due to this tightened enforcement, we have 
successfully suspended lots of counterfeits at the overseas mail sub-branches.  
7. In addition, Japan has strengthened institutional capacity to meet the increasing number of 
counterfeits sent by internati onal postal shipment.  Japan Customs has several overseas mail sub-
branches and IPR specialized teams have been form ed in key branches.  For example, the Tokyo 
Overseas Mail Sub-branch office which deals with  about 10,000 cases per year have eleven IPR 
specialized officers in 2012. 
IV. IMPROVEMENT OF CUSTOMS OFFICERS' EXPERTISE 
A. CUSTOMS INTELLIGENT DATABASE SYSTEM AND INTRANET BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM  
8. Japan Customs has put emphasis on the informa tion analysis to suspend counterfeits and 
pirated goods more effectively.  In this regard , Japan Customs recognizes that the enhancement of 
information exchange with other customs authoriti es is vital.  Right holders also provide Japan 
Customs with useful information of suspici ous import or export goods , which makes Customs 
enforcement more efficient and effective, by lodg ing applications for susp ension.  Moreover, Japan 
Customs holds training seminars with right holders  in order to properly understand the information 
provided by right holders.  Front-line staff memb ers can acquire pragmatic  knowledge and techniques 
to distinguish genuine goods from "elaborate c ounterfeit goods" through th ese cooperative training 
seminars. 
9. For effective analysis and sharing of the in formation, the Japan Customs is utilizing two 
different information systems.  Firstly, Japan  Customs has developed the Customs Intelligent  IP/C/W/571 
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  Database System (CIS) since 1991 to analyse vari ous types of information related to customs 
operations including the import/export of goods infri nging IPR.  When a front-line staff member 
suspects that cargos may include counterfeits or pi rated goods, the staff member can access the CIS to 
ascertain the risk level of the cargos using the accumulated information of the CIS.  
10. Secondly,  an Intranet bulletin board system th at specializes in IPR enforcement is playing a 
key role to share information.  While the CI S is based on both the past records and advance 
information, the  Intranet bulletin board sy stem places emphasis on raising the precaution and 
awareness levels of front-line staff members by providing all the Customs staff members who are in charge of examination of import/export declara tions and cargos with up-to-date and useful 
information such as:  
 list of applications for suspension; 
 explanation of each application for suspension with a brief description of distinguishing 
features between genuine goods and infringing goods; 
 reports of recent methods or deceptive practices;  and 
 explanations of enforcement procedures on IPR. 
 11. Since IPR border enforcement is very complex and requires staff members to gather all 
necessary information on a timely basis, this bulletin  board system is effective in supporting front-line 
staff members' efforts to implement eff ective and appropriate IPR enforcement.  
B. H
UMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT  
12. Japan Customs has the Customs Training Ins titute (CTI) for the development of human 
resources of the Customs.  The CTI provides the Customs staff with various technical knowledge 
including IPR.  Nine regional CTI branches also provide the front-line staff members with more 
practical training programmes.  The details of training about IPR border enforcement in the CTI are as 
follows: 
(1) Intensive training programme specialized in IPR enforcement 
 
 Since 2004, the CTI provides intensive training programmes designed for IPR specialists 
every year.  The participants usually have  experience in working for IPR enforcement 
sections.  The programme consists of two parts in cluding legal studies and practical trainings.  
Regarding the legal studies, the participants l earn the intellectual property laws (Patent Act, 
Utility-model Act, Trademark Act, Industrial d esign Act, Copyright Act, Unfair Competition 
Prevention Act and Plant Variety Protection and Seed Act).  Judicial precedents and recent trend of intellectual property laws are also provi ded in the programme.  The lecturers of legal 
issues are invited from other governmental agen cies relevant to IPR -related international 
agreements and laws (the Ministry of Foreign A ffairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry 
and Fisheries, the Japan Patent Office, the Agency for Cultural A ffairs, the Ministry of Trade, 
Economic and Industry) and law firms.  Prac tical trainings are conducted by experienced 
Customs IPR specialists and right-holders.  Th rough these programmes, the participants learn 
the legal framework of border measures on IPR enforcement and important points from 
pragmatic viewpoints.  In order for the particip ants to acquire the knowledge in a better way, 
case studies are provided in the end of the programmes.  
 (2) General Training Programme 
 
The CTI provides general training programmes which are not focused on a specific area.  
There are programmes targeted at different j ob classes, such as the newly-employed, middle 
or senior class staff members.  These progr ammes include the IPR border enforcement in IP/C/W/571 
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  general. In Japan, in order to develop experts of IPR, the Customs officers dealing with IPR 
issues participate in a training session of IPR in  the CTI.  About 400 customs officers have 
been joining in specific training programmes related to IPR as an outsourced programme. 
 13. Japan Customs is consolidating knowledge and skills regarding IPR enforcement to the IPR 
National Center physically located in Tokyo Customs.   The IPR National Center has a central role for 
coordination on IPR issues for all regional Cust oms in Japan and arranges On-The-Job-Training 
(OJT) programmes.  There are two main OJT programme s.  The first one is a short-term OJT which is 
designed for those Customs staff members working at  regional Customs to take a two-week intensive 
OJT and to experience actual cases.  The staff members also learn the practical issues from IPR 
investigators in IPR National Center. The IPR Nati onal Center usually accepts three or four young 
staff members to the short-term OJT every year.  The other type of OJT is a long-term OJT which 
takes a whole year.  The staff members are selected fr om all regional Customs.  They are expected to 
become the core members of IPR enforcement in each regional Customs.  The number of the staff 
member is two.  They will work with the staff me mbers of the IPR National Center in Tokyo Customs 
in the same way.  
V. CONCLUSION 
14. We reaffirm that for all customs authorities, IP R enforcement at the border is one of the most 
challenging/complicated issues.  As described above , Japan Customs has streng thened enforcement in 
several ways, fully recognizing the importance of a fl exible and well-balanced enforcement system to 
address the problem of counte rfeits and pirated goods.  
 
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