the payment of a guarantee designed to cover the amount of the expenses incurred as a result
of the goods being kept under customs supervision.
42. Where the customs authorities observe, in the appropriate case following
consultations with the requestor, that goods correspond to those indicated in the request, they
shall withhold the goods.
The customs authorities shall immediately inform the requestor and the importer that
the goods have been withheld, and shall grant them the opportunity to examine the goods
which have been withheld and to take samples therefrom as required for the analyses and tests
for establishing whether an infringement has actually occurred, in accordance with the
provisions of the Customs Code and without harming the principle of confidentiality of
information.
For the purposes of an order made by the president of the court and of initiating court
proceedings, the customs authorities shall inform the requestor of the first names, surnames
and addresses of the exporter, importer and recipient of the goods, if they are known to the
authorities, and also of the goods which are the subject of the request.
43. Provided that all the customs procedures have been completed, the measure to
withhold the goods shall be lifted ipso jure, failing which the requestor shall, within a period
of ten working days starting from the notification of the withholding of the goods, provide the
customs authorities with proof that he has lodged a civil or criminal appeal and that
precautionary measures have been decided by the competent court and that he has paid a
sufficiently large security to cover his liability toward the persons concerned.
The amount of the security shall be fixed by the court.
In appropriate cases, this period may be extended by a maximum of ten working days.
The owner, importer or recipient of the goods shall be entitled to obtain the lifting of the
withholding of the goods in question, in return for the payment of a security, the amount of
which shall be fixed by the court and which shall be sufficient to protect the requestor’s
interests, provided that all the customs procedures have been completed.
The owner, importer, recipient and requestor shall be informed immediately by the
customs authorities of the lifting of the withholding of the goods.
44. If, pursuant to a ruling having acquired the force of res judicata, it transpires that
the goods are counterfeit, the court shall decide on the action to be taken in relation to the
goods:
— Either the goods shall be destroyed under supervision by the customs authorities;
— Or the goods shall be taken out of commercial circulation, provided that the rights of
the owner of the layout-design of integrated circuits are not infringed.
45. The customs authorities may, at their own initiative, suspend the customs clearance
of the goods presumed to contain a counterfeit layout-design of integrated circuits.
In this case:
— The customs authorities shall immediately inform the owner of a layout-design of
integrated circuits, or his beneficiaries, who shall submit a request in accordance with
Article 39 of this Law, within a period of three days from the date of notification given to him
by the customs authorities and the provisions of this chapter shall apply ipso jure.
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