At shopping districts outside our nation's borders, and at too many places inside them, the unavoidable, inescapable street vendors sell designer jewelry, clothing, handbags, and accessories at discount prices. By now, most of us know there's no way you can buy a real Hermes scarf for two bucks or a Seiko watch for ten, but our kids and a surprising number of adults often don't know.

And so, each year the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) works tirelessly with intellectual property rights (IPR) owners to prevent such goods from being imported. The agency's concern, as well as the trade's, is not only to protect the economic interests of registered IPR owners, but also to thwart the funding of criminal enterprises, which have been known to profit from sales of these counterfeits. Anecdotal evidence indicates that even terrorist organizations may be profiting from them. (See U.S. Customs Today, November 2002.)

Rolex USA understands very well the double-edged threat from counterfeiting; thus, the company takes aggressive measures to protect its brand name. Like other major corporations, and law enforcement agencies too, Rolex isn't eager to share corporate secrets-its specific how-to's-in print, nor would Customs and Border Protection Today want to violate that privacy. But the company does provide CBP officers with product-specific information on how real Rolexes differ from fakes. And CBP hosts industry roundtables to provide even more product training for port personnel who handle IPR matters.

"We estimate that losses to the U.S. economy from counterfeiting now exceed $250 billion per year," said Angelo Mazza of the law firm of Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty, counsel for Rolex. "The [CBP] has long been a partner in helping to stem the flow of counterfeit products into the United States. As reports circulate about how profits from counterfeit goods help fund various criminal enterprises, including possible terrorist activities, it is important to know that CBP is committed to leading the fight against it," he added.

Like many other high-profile, high-end brands in the watch industry, Rolex watches are particularly susceptible to being counterfeited. For the two fiscal years 2001 and 2002, CBP made more than 1,000 seizures of phony watches, with a domestic value of more than $9.5 million.

The international trade specialists in CBP's Office of Strategic Trade work as a team with other internal offices to prevent counterfeit goods from entering the country. The professional specialties in this mix include the attorneys and paralegals from the Office of Regulations and Rulings. Their initiatives to combat IPR violations include developing and publishing legal documents - rulings, decisions, memoranda - that are binding on the private sector and administering the program under which these rights are recorded. They also represent CBP when consulting with domestic and foreign groups or governments on IPR matters, and they issue legal determinations regarding seizures of bogus merchandise worth at least $100,000 or cases in which assessed penalties are at least $100,000.

Inspectors and import specialists from the Office of Field Operations pick out suspicious merchandise and determine whether it actually does infringe on a registered property right. Sometimes they make these determinations with scientists from the Office of Information and Technology laboratories, or with attorneys or trade representatives. Sometimes they make the determinations on their own. Some of the larger ports have dedicated IPR teams of inspectors and import specialists who specialize in nothing but property rights matters.

Our labs have chemists, physicists, biologists, and textile analysts who can tell the difference between a fake Rolex and a really good knock-off-they could even pick out a forged Mona Lisa or a coffee bean not grown in Colombia.

These specialists provide evidence for criminal investigators who use these fine points, gleaned from different kinds of expertise and knowledge, to make a case, as the role of special agents is to conduct investigations of people and companies involved in criminal IPR activities. Their successes happen in courtrooms, where the accused are prosecuted and, if found guilty, their assets recovered.

In September 2002, Rolex USA honored the staff of the Los Angeles Strategic Trade Center for their exceptional work in helping to hunt down counterfeiters through cooperative efforts with industry. In years past, Rolex has honored inspectors at the port of Anchorage's Federal Express facility and the mail facility in Oakland, Calif., as well as the Cybersmuggling Center, with the prestigious Rolex award.

To provide assistance and information to CBP officers and the trade community on IPR violations, Customs has established an IPR help desk that can be reached at 562.980.3119, extension 252. CBP employees can access the help desk internally via cc:Mail at "helpdesk, ipr," or by email at helpdesk.ipr@customs.treas.gov.