Ir al contenido
Inicio

Intellectual Property · EN

Trademark Protection at Customs: Border Measures and the Colón Free Zone.

Registering your trademark in Panama lets you defend it at the border: the National Customs Authority can detain counterfeit goods, even in transit through the Colón Free Zone. Here are the border measures of Law 35 of 1996 and why registration is the key to that protection.

Published in the source: Last date stated:

Registering your trademark does more than grant exclusive use: it opens the door to defending it at the border. And in Panama — one of the hemisphere's largest goods-transit hubs — that defense is especially valuable, and especially necessary, because of the Colón Free Zone.

Border measures under Law 35

Law 35 of 1996 (in its Title on enforcement, articles 176 et seq., amended by Law 61 of 2012) empowers the National Customs Authority — created by Decree Law 1 of 2008 — to inspect and detain, on its own initiative or on request, goods in customs processing or in transit that may infringe industrial property rights or constitute an offense. This is Panama's implementation of article 51 et seq. of the TRIPS Agreement (border measures).

The Colón Free Zone, expressly covered

The point many rights holders overlook: article 176 provides that the authorities of the Colón Free Zone and other free zones have the same powers of detention over goods in transit, marketed or stored within their territory. Given the re-export volume the Free Zone moves, it is a key front against counterfeiting: your registered mark can be stopped there before the counterfeit goods reach their destination.

How detention works (article 177)

  1. Once goods are detained, the rights holder is notified (directly or through an agent or distributor) and sent samples.
  2. The holder must state in writing whether they oppose release. If they oppose, they post a bond; if not, the goods are released.
  3. Without a bond, detention lasts a maximum of thirty calendar days.
  4. A written authorization or license from the holder serves as proof of legitimacy and releases the goods.

An honest note on the "customs registry"

The law contemplates creating a centralized registry of rights holders with the customs authority to speed up detentions; but the text itself conditions this ("until it is created") and, in the meantime, provides that the records of DIGERPI and the National Copyright Directorate serve as the basis to identify holders. In practice, this means that having your mark registered with DIGERPI is what makes you identifiable and protectable at the border. Registration is the key.

The lesson: registering is the first step, not the only one

A mark without registration cannot invoke these measures. And a registered mark without watching rarely learns of an infringement in time. Real protection combines three pieces: register the mark, watch it to detect counterfeits and conflicting filings, and act at the border when counterfeit goods appear.

Related: trademark registration step by step · types of trademarks.

Legal basis: Law 35 of 1996 (articles 176-180, amended by Law 61 of 2012) and Decree Law 1 of 2008. Some provisions depend on their regulations; verify the current procedure with the authority. Informational content, not legal advice.