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Comment by tyingq | Hacker News Reader

As a smaller player, it is very difficult to get the Chinese suppliers to guarantee they won't ship the wrong thing.

Separating the shipment is a relatively low cost way to protect the main item.

Edit: Another example that happened to a friend. He ordered some single board computers that came with some software on a CD...he wasn't even aware of the CD. The CD had a fake "Compact Disc" marking, which is a trademark. Whole shipment seized.

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This whole thing seems crazy to me (I don't do a lot of importing). Customs has the ability to determine if the UL logo on a charger is fake or if a phrase breaks trademark law, and then confiscates an _entire_ shipment?

Why is it CBP/custom's job to enforce trademark law? I could just as easily print a fake logo in the US, but border control won't come after me - the people responsible for enforcing those laws will.

It seems you have absolutely no legal recourse here too, and it hurts American businesses. I know the US is far from libertarian, but this seems like overreach in the strangest way possible.

Also, they auctioned it all off later, sans the adapters. So they get the concept :)

Could you buy them at auction?

The winning bid was higher than what I paid :)

Wait so they effectively imported items into the country themselves, punished you and made a buck on it? Wasn't the purpose to prevent counterfeits? Or did they trash the adapters and auctioned the main item only?

Yes, they trashed the adapters and auctioned the main item. The winning bid was well below retail pricing, but much higher than wholesale cost.

Huh.. it seems like you’d have a claim.. I am surprised.

It’s CBPs job because consumers have no idea if the UL or Intertek logo is legit or not. Because those adapters aren’t listed they don’t have to follow the electrical and fire safety standards. So a purchaser may be tricked into buying something that is much more likely to burn their house down. Having CBP intercept it makes perfect sense.

> Intertek

I don't think anyone cares about Intertek logos. /s

On safety, note that the same adapters could have shipped with no UL mark. CPB was enforcing trademarks, not safety.

Edit: Regarding below, sure. But there are tons of unlisted adapters that come with electronics you might buy. I'd hazard a guess that most people have at least one in their house. Not that it's okay, just noting that it's common.

However safety expectations are tied to that trademark.

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