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If a company has registered a copyright or trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it should consider recording its registration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Recording copyrights and trademarks with CBP assists CBP in identifying infringing goods and allows Customs to seize and destroy the infringing materials. Recordation can be completed on CBP’s Intellectual Property Rights e-Recordation (IPRR) website (link is external). Additional information on how CBP can assist in protecting a company’s IPR is available here (link is external).

Also, contracts with suppliers and distributors should usually include specific language regarding IP rights, including dispute settlement.

Transliterations (representations of words in the corresponding characters of another alphabet) should be considered when making trademark decisions. Foreign entities may trademark the name of your company, for example, written in their alphabet to make a transliteration of your trademark that they then register for themselves.

The U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service can help U.S. companies evaluate potential foreign business partners.