EGL-USA Requests Customs Ban on Illegal Certificates
Staff -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 7/1/2003
EGL-USA has requested the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and local authorities to assist it in preventing the importation and distribution of gemstones accompanied by illegal EGL gem grading certificates, which violate its trademarks in the United States.
EGL-USA is the exclusive owner of the EGL trademarks in the United States and in Canada and does not authorize the use of these marks by any laboratories other than the four official North American EGL labs—in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Vancouver—that make up The EGL-USA Group, according to the lab's attorney, Robert Hanlon, of Coudert Brothers LLP.
"U.S. trademark law, the Lanham Act, is designed to protect consumers by making sure the products they buy are genuine. This statute forbids anyone from using a company's trademarks unless the company specifically authorizes that use. The Customs laws of the U.S. also permit a company to record its trademarks with Customs and to bar the import of goods that bear infringing trademarks," said Hanlon.
EGL-USA also will alert trade magazine publishers about accepting advertising from a lab or other industry entity that is infringing on the company's trademark. If the magazine is oriented to the trade or consumers in the United States or Canada, running an EGL advertisement from a lab or other industry entity outside the United States or Canada would be considered a violation of trademark law and therefore illegal.
For additional information, call (212) 730-7380 ext. 240; in Canada call (866) 630-0400.
