Seizure by customs authorities

(1) A product that infringes a utility model protected under this Act is, on request and against the right holder providing security, subject to seizure by the customs authority on its importation or exportation, provided the infringement is manifest and insofar as Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 concerning customs enforcement of intellectual property rights and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 (OJ L 181, 29.6.2013, p. 15), as amended from time to time, does not apply. This applies to trade with other Member States of the European Union and with the other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area only insofar as controls are carried out by the customs authorities.
(2) Where the customs authority orders the seizure, it shall without delay inform the person entitled to dispose of the goods and the applicant. The applicant must be informed of the origin, quantity and place of storage of the product, as well as the name and address of the person entitled to dispose of the goods; the privacy of correspondence and posts (Article 10 of the Basic Law) is restricted to that extent. The applicant is given the opportunity to inspect the product, insofar as this does not interfere with business or trade secrets.
(3) Where the seizure is not objected to at the latest within two weeks after service of the communication under paragraph 2, first sentence, the customs authority shall order the confiscation of the seized product.
(4) Where the person entitled to dispose of the goods objects to the seizure, the customs authority shall without delay inform the applicant of this. The applicant must without delay declare to the customs authority whether the request under paragraph 1 is maintained in respect of the seized product. 1. Where the applicant withdraws the request, the customs authority shall without delay lift the seizure. 2. Where the applicant maintains the request and produces an enforceable judicial decision ordering the safekeeping of the seized product or a restriction on disposal, the customs authority shall take the necessary measures. Where neither of the cases under nos. 1 or 2 applies, the customs authority shall lift the seizure after the expiry of two weeks after service of the communication to the applicant under the first sentence; where the applicant shows that the judicial decision under no. 2 has been applied for but has not yet been received, the seizure is maintained for at most a further two weeks.
(5) Where the seizure proves to have been unjustified from the outset, and the applicant has maintained the request under paragraph 1 in respect of the seized product, or has not declared without delay (paragraph 4, second sentence), the applicant is obliged to compensate the person entitled to dispose of the goods for the damage caused by the seizure.
(6) The request under paragraph 1 must be filed with the Directorate General of Customs and has effect for one year, unless a shorter period of validity is requested; it may be repeated. Costs are charged to the applicant for the official acts connected with the request, in accordance with section 178 of the Fiscal Code.
(7) The seizure and the confiscation may be challenged by the remedies that are permissible in fine proceedings under the Act on Regulatory Offences against seizure and confiscation. The applicant must be heard in the remedy proceedings. An immediate appeal lies against the decision of the local court; the higher regional court decides on it.