In the scope of their continuous efforts to create competent border enforcement measures and to provide effective protection, the Saudi Customs Authority and our local affiliate in Saudi Arabia signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding with the in order to benefit from the trademark recordation system for registered trademarks. It is worth noting that
Upon recordation of a trademark, the SCA would stop shipments of suspected counterfeit products carrying the said trademark from entering into Saudi Arabia and issue notifications to the attorney on file so that the latter can verify the authenticity of the suspected products. If confirmed to be fakes, the goods would be confiscated and destroyed by the SCA. Accordingly, brand owners with registered trademarks can apply to the SCA requesting recordation. The application must be accompanied by a copy of the certificate of registration of the mark and a power of attorney that is not older than five years, legalized up to the Saudi consulate. The SCA will then issue a recordation notice, which is valid for one year and is renewable for like periods.
One fundamental premise of the recordation system—other than providing a central registry containing information for recorded trademarks—is that it allows SCA officials to adopt an ex-officio border system. The key advantage of the ex-officio system is that it allows for prompt and proactive action by the SCA thus avoiding the delays inherently involved in seeking judicial action.
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