If Chinese customs notifies you that it has stopped suspected infringing goods, you have three working days from service of the notice to ask it to detain them and to post a bond. Miss the deadline and customs must release the goods, usually onto a ship to your market. In most cases you should request detention if the photographs show goods that are plainly not yours, and decline if there is a real chance they are genuine, parallel stock or a licensee's production. The cost of being wrong runs in both directions: release lets the fakes reach your market, and a detention that turns out to be unjustified exposes you to a claim for the exporter's losses.
This article assumes you have already recorded a Chinese right with the General Administration of Customs. If you have not, see our article on China Customs recordal first.
Read the notice for what it tells you
A customs notice is short, and every line matters. It identifies the port, the goods, the quantity and the declared value, and asks you to state whether you want the goods detained. Note the date of service, because the three working days run from service, and working days exclude Chinese public holidays. A notice that arrives just before the National Day holiday leaves more calendar days than one that arrives mid-week, but not more working days.
Ask your agent, the same day, for clear photographs of the goods, the labels, the packaging and the marks, and for any shipping documents customs is willing to share.
How do you decide whether to detain?
The question is simple: are these goods yours, made with your authorisation? Check the photographs against your genuine product and packaging. Then check the less obvious possibilities. Is the shipper a factory you used before, possibly running an overrun of your order? Is it a licensee or distributor exporting goods it bought from you? Is the product one of yours that was returned, refurbished or sold off as surplus?
If the answer is clearly no, request detention. If the answer is "possibly", do not request detention just to be safe. Under the Regulations, a rights holder whose detention request is found unjustified is liable to compensate the shipper's losses. It is better to tell customs that the goods may be authorised and resolve the question with your supply chain than to defend a damages claim later.
A shipment from your own former factory deserves special attention. It is often the clearest evidence you will ever get that the factory is selling your product to others, and it supports a breach of contract claim as well as an infringement case.
What does the bond actually cost?
The bond follows the declared value of the goods. Under the Implementing Measures it equals the value for goods below RMB 20,000, half the value for goods between RMB 20,000 and 200,000 with a minimum of RMB 20,000, and RMB 100,000 for goods above RMB 200,000. Trademark owners who face repeated seizures can post a general bond by bank guarantee, usually RMB 200,000 a year, and then request detentions during that year without a separate bond each time.
The bond is security, not a fee. It is used to cover storage and disposal costs and any compensation if the detention proves unjustified, and the balance is returned. The real out-of-pocket costs are storage and destruction, which the rights holder may have to bear, and the cost of any lawyer or agent handling the matter. Ask the port for an estimate of storage costs; for low-value goods they can approach the value of the goods themselves.
After detention: investigation, court, or settlement
Customs investigates once the goods are detained. In clear counterfeit cases it usually finds infringement, confiscates the goods and, for counterfeit trademarks, destroys them. It can also impose an administrative penalty on the exporter, of up to 30 percent of the value of the goods, and serious cases may be transferred for criminal investigation.
If customs cannot determine infringement within 30 working days of detention, it notifies both sides. You then need a court order, an injunction or a property preservation ruling under the Trademark Law, Copyright Law or Patent Law, delivered to customs within 50 working days of detention, or the goods will be released. Patent cases are more likely to end up here, because infringement of a design or utility patent is harder for customs to judge on inspection than a counterfeit logo.
Use the seizure against the source
A seizure stops one shipment. The value lies in what it tells you about the source. The customs file identifies the exporter and the declared consignee, and a penalty decision against the exporter is strong evidence in a civil action. Our view is that a seizure involving a known factory, particularly a former supplier, should be followed by a demand letter and, if needed, a civil claim in the court where the factory is located, combining infringement with breach of the NNN agreement if you have one.
What we would not do is treat every seizure as the start of a lawsuit. For small shipments from unknown traders, confiscation and destruction is often the right end point, and the money is better spent on the next recordal renewal or the factories that matter.
Frequently asked questions
- What happens if I do nothing within three working days? Customs must release the goods. A late reply cannot reverse that.
- Do I pay the bond to customs? Yes, as a deposit or a bank guarantee. It is returned after deduction of storage, disposal and any compensation owed.
- Can I find out who exported the fakes? Customs' handling of the case identifies the exporter, and a penalty decision can be used as evidence. How much customs will disclose at the notice stage varies, so ask.
- What if the goods are genuine overruns from my old factory? That is still a question of authorisation. Unauthorised overruns are usually infringing goods, and they are also strong evidence of a contract breach by the factory.
Related service: Customs IP Recordal ↗
Received a China Customs notice?
We review the photographs and documents, advise on whether to request detention, arrange the bond and handle the follow-up, within the three-working-day deadline.
Related Reading
- China Customs IP Recordal: Can You Stop Fakes Before They Leave China?
- Suing a Chinese Company in a Chinese Court: What Foreign Businesses Should Expect
- NNN Agreements in China: How to Stop Your Chinese Factory from Copying or Selling Your Product
This article is general information on PRC law as of 9 October 2026 and does not constitute legal advice. The answer in any matter depends on its documents and facts.