The ‘Saebit Market Counterfeit Goods Investigation Council (hereinafter referred to as the Investigation Council)’ conducted a simultaneous joint crackdown in the Saebit Market area again after two months. This is the third joint crackdown this year alone.
The Investigation Council was launched in February this year through the collaboration of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Jung-gu Office of Seoul, and Seoul Jungbu Police Station. The background for launching the Investigation Council is to eradicate the trade of counterfeit goods taking place in Saebit Market.
After its launch, the first joint crackdown was conducted in March, the second in May, and the third this month consecutively. This suggests that the activities of the Investigation Council will not end as a one-time event.
On the 12th, investigators from the investigation cooperation body conducted a crackdown on counterfeit goods under the yellow tent at Saebit Market in Dongdaemun, Seoul. Photo by the Korean Intellectual Property Office
According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office on the 17th, around 10 p.m. on the 12th, 35 investigators from the Investigation Council entered Saebit Market in the Dongdaemun area of Seoul and simultaneously cracked down on the yellow tents.
Saebit Market is a so-called counterfeit market consisting of about 100 yellow tents installed around Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station in Seoul. This market, which mainly opens briefly from 8 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. the next day, is known among domestic and international tourists as an international(?) counterfeit goods trading place.
During the crackdown that day, 102 counterfeit items were seized from five yellow tents. The seized items were counterfeit goods such as clothing and bags imitating 18 famous brands including Company G, Company C, and Company L.
At the scene, Mr. A (56), who sold counterfeit goods, was booked without detention on charges of violating the Trademark Act, and 14 yellow tents installed without permission (without attaching a permit) were dismantled.
In Saebit Market, only street vendors permitted by the Jung-gu Office of Seoul can operate under the originally approved conditions. If they violate the permit conditions by selling counterfeit goods or infringing trademark rights and are sentenced to a fine or higher, their existing permit may be revoked.
Counterfeit goods seized on the 12th are organized under a yellow tent at Saebit Market in Dongdaemun, Seoul. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office
However, according to the Korean Intellectual Property Office, many yellow tents without ‘road occupancy permits’ attached and selling counterfeit goods were confirmed at the joint crackdown site.
It is analyzed that they operated without attaching permits due to concerns that permit verification and permit cancellation procedures could be carried out during the on-site crackdown on counterfeit goods.
Going forward, the Investigation Council plans to continue the crackdown on counterfeit goods by investigative agencies and the dismantling of tents without permits by the Jung-gu Office, and will strongly respond in cooperation with the Seoul Jungbu Police Station against sellers who illegally resist legitimately enforced public authority.
Park Ju-yeon, head of the Trademark Special Judicial Police Division at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, “We plan to focus investigative efforts on areas where illegal activities such as continuous sales of counterfeit goods or resistance to the dismantling of yellow tents are prominent and continue crackdowns. However, to eradicate counterfeit goods trading, efforts by consumers themselves to refrain from purchasing counterfeit goods are also necessary in addition to government crackdowns.”
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