Does the Rolex Trademark / Seizure rule on US imported watches still exist?

AFAIK eBay doesn’t restrict shipping Rolex watches into the US so if this is still an issue I wonder if they have an institutional agreement.

No, they do not. However, the issue is not with eBay, it is with the couriers who may not want to chance having a package seized at Customs on the way in.

The pre-2016 Customs rules are rooted in the premise that Rolex USA is a totally separate company than Rolex of Geneva (or whatever is the Swiss corporate name). Under the administrative rules at that time, US importers who had the same ownership as their non-US manufacturers could not have US Customs restrict the importation of their products by private individuals, while companies that had separate ownership could enforce such restrictions.

This was probably the reason why back in the olden days (pre-1980), most Swiss watch import companies were separate US companies, independent from the factories. When the quartz crisis hit in the 1980’s, these companies cared less about restrictions on imports and more about efficiency, so they bought out their importers for cheap (since sales were way down) and took over their own import businesses.

However, by doing that, these companies lost the right to request Customs seize imports by private individuals as “fakes”, since they were not sold by US dealers.

You can read more about the old rules here:

https://watchlords.com/viewtopic.php?t=32221

Contrary to what some people were writing above, Rolex was not paying US Customs for special treatment. Instead, they were following the law.
gatorcpa

Following the law. They simply asked for the law to be enforced and had the foresight to structure their US company properly to ensure that it was.

A company has the right and duty to protect its intellectual property. If it inconveniences a small group of collectors, then it is too bad for us.

Don’t forget that Omega tried (and ultimately failed) to enforce copyright law to force Costco to stop importing their watches.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costco_Wholesale_Corp._v._Omega,_S._A.

gatorcpa

You mean like….trolling? Whatever gets your rocks off.

🍿Keep going, you’re very entertaining.

One needs KOOL Aid to wash down the chips…