Piracy in focus

New customs rules for the protection of intellectual property

Revenue Service Act reinforces customs duty to retain goods suspected of trademark infringement, allowing administrative forfeiture and strengthening intellectual property protection.

On December 4, 2025, a relevant normative act for the protection of intellectual property in the customs sphere was published, edited by the Special Secretary of the Federal Revenue Service of Brazil. This is the interpretative declaratory act RFB 3, of December 3, 2025.

Until now, the matter was governed only by Articles 605 to 608 of Decree 6,759, dated February 5, 2009. Despite the clarity of the legal provisions, it seems that customs authorities were somewhat reluctant to seize products that might infringe trademarks. Given this, there was an understanding that the matter needed to be better regulated in order to clarify this apparent legislative gap.

As far as we can see, this is no longer the case. The special secretary explained that it is the duty of customs authorities to detain goods suspected of being counterfeit, altered, or imitation brands, or with false indications of origin. It was emphasized that the issue is a matter of public order, related to consumer and environmental protection, health, and national security.

Along these lines, the declaratory act reinforced that, once certain products have been seized, the customs authority may, ex officio, summon the holder of the industrial property right to provide evidence of infringement. After hearing both sides, if a prima facie case of infringement is established, the customs authority will administratively apply the penalty of forfeiture.

This system establishes the interpretation that it is possible for the customs authority to act administratively ex officio, regardless of whether the trademark owner has initiated the process of “judicial seizure of goods.” Thus, even if no legal proceedings are initiated by the owner of the (theoretically) infringed right, the penalty of forfeiture may still be applied by the customs authority.

In this sense, it appears that the declaratory act qualifies as a mechanism for removing the matter from the courts, apparently aimed at making the protection of intellectual property at the border faster and more effective.

The regulation is binding on customs authorities.