'Intellectual Property Dispute' Home Shopping Company Submits Explanation to Coupang... Clue to Resuming Sales

Coupang Holds Practical Talks with GS and Lotte Home Shopping Representatives
Accounts Suspended Following Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Reports from Manufacturers
Improvement Plans and Statements of Explanation Submitted, Including Measures to Prevent Recurrence
Coupang to Decide on Resuming Sales After Review

TV home shopping companies whose sales were temporarily suspended on Coupang's open market (marketplace) due to intellectual property rights infringement reports have submitted statements of explanation to Coupang and decided to work on resolving the issue. Coupang is expected to review a plan to resume sales based on this, which is likely to resolve the conflicting positions between the two sides.

Coupang logo. Yonhap News

According to the related industry on the 10th, Coupang, GS Home Shopping, and Lotte Home Shopping held a practical consultation at the Korea Online Shopping Association in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, to resolve intellectual property rights violation issues, and reportedly agreed to amicably settle the sales suspension situation. A representative of the Korea Online Shopping Association said, "Both sides agreed that there had been some shortcomings in communication regarding sales and overall business operations," adding, "There was no conflict as some had suggested, and they decided to improve the issues for mutual growth."

GS Home Shopping and Lotte Home Shopping submitted improvement plans and statements of explanation related to intellectual property rights to Coupang on the same day. These reportedly included measures to prevent recurrence of intellectual property rights infringement. The home shopping companies also explained that since products are distributed through intermediary agencies, minor errors or issues arising in this process led to intellectual property rights violations. Hyundai Home Shopping, which also faced sales suspension like GS and Lotte, did not participate in the discussion but plans to hold separate consultations with Coupang later.

Earlier, Coupang suspended the online sales accounts of these multiple TV home shopping companies as of the 1st. This was due to intellectual property rights infringement issues raised regarding products from these home shopping companies. Specifically, a domestic home appliance manufacturer reported to Coupang that some home shopping companies caused consumer confusion by using images of its products while selling other companies' products. Another global tech company raised concerns that a home shopping company sold items similar to its products.

Coupang explained that repeated intellectual property rights violation reports continued to be received afterward, and according to its terms and conditions, it gave the home shopping companies a one-month period to provide explanations but received no response, making the sales suspension unavoidable. This regulation applies equally to all sellers regardless of company size. The number of products suspended from each home shopping company is reported to be around 2,000.

Coupang's position is that if a seller facing intellectual property rights issues submits valid explanatory materials, it will review them and immediately lift the account suspension. Previously, NS Home Shopping also temporarily suspended product sales in February after receiving an intellectual property rights violation report from a manufacturer, but after going through the explanation process and deleting products that could not be explained, its account was restored within a month.

The industry is paying attention to the fact that as the number of products sold by Chinese e-commerce (C-commerce) companies such as AliExpress and Temu increases, major home appliance companies and others are strengthening intellectual property protection measures. Coupang also informs open market sellers of violation cases and regularly notifies related policies in line with the industry's intellectual property protection stance. Monitoring has been strengthened to prevent intellectual property rights infringements. Additionally, if product names or main images contain false or exaggerated information that misleads consumers, Coupang plans to strictly enforce measures such as sales suspension.