GS Shop and Hyundai Home Shopping Sales Suspended on Coupang Due to 'Intellectual Property Infringement Report'

Yonhap News

Some TV home shopping companies operating on Coupang Open Market, an online marketplace connecting sellers and buyers, have temporarily suspended sales following intellectual property rights infringement reports.

According to industry sources on the 8th, Coupang suspended the online sales accounts of GS Shop and Hyundai Home Shopping as of the 1st of this month. The number of products with suspended sales is reported to be around 2,000 for each company.

This measure is known to be due to intellectual property rights infringement issues related to the products of these companies. Earlier in February, a major domestic electronics manufacturer, Company A, filed a rights infringement report with Coupang, claiming that these companies had unauthorizedly used product images. A global tech company, Company B, also reported that these companies were selling similar products.

Coupang stated that, according to its terms and conditions, it gave the companies a one-month period to provide explanations, but having received no response, it had no choice but to suspend sales. However, Coupang plans to review and lift the account suspension if valid explanatory materials are submitted.

Coupang is scheduled to hold related discussions between working-level personnel with the affected companies as early as the 10th.

Meanwhile, NS Home Shopping also temporarily suspended product sales following an intellectual property rights violation report but resumed sales at the end of last month after going through an explanation procedure.