Intellectual Property Rights Registration with Customs (Canada)

The Request for Assistance (RFA) form is identified by Customs as: “BSF738 — Request for Assistance”. This form is available online.

The form can be completed and submitted online.

The instructions provided on the form are self-explanatory and very helpful. Review of the instructions, including the sections on “Privacy Statement”, “Consent Statement” and “Liability and Obligations”, are particularly important to review to ensure you know the consequences of submitting an RFA.

A few points of interest:

• There are no costs to file the RFA.
• There is no limit on the number of registered Canadian trademarks and copyrights you can include in one RFA.
• The rights holder does not need to be Canadian but they must have a representative for service in Canada (item 3).
• Currently there is no requirement to post a bond (item 10).
• Inclusion of WTO Harmonized System codes is permitted (item 9).
• You can list both authorized importers (item 12) as well as known distributors/importers of illegitimate or suspect goods (item 13).

Materials reproduced with the permission of LexisNexis Canada. http://www.lexisnexis.ca/en-ca/products/practice-advisor.page