The Special Judicial Police of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (hereinafter referred to as Special Judicial Police) announced on the 11th that they will conduct intensive monitoring of design infringement and imitation products distributed on online platforms from this month until November.
The monitoring is conducted to protect design rights holders, prevent consumer confusion, and prevent design infringement crimes, reflecting the increasing distribution of design imitation and infringement products online that have had brand logos or trademarks removed.
During the intensive monitoring period, the Special Judicial Police plan to closely examine the distribution status of design infringement and imitation products, focusing on major online platforms.
Cases detected during the monitoring process will be subject to warnings, deletion of sales posts, or investigation linkage for criminal punishment, depending on the severity.
To ensure effective monitoring activities, the Special Judicial Police also plan to continuously expand cooperation with online platform companies. Previously, the Korean Intellectual Property Office cooperated with Coupang last year to delete 31 sales posts of design-infringing products.
Shin Sang-gon, Director of the Industrial Property Protection Cooperation Bureau at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, "To avoid violating trademark law, counterfeit product sales are evolving by removing trademarks or logos and imitating only the design. Imitating designs is a clear criminal act, and the Korean Intellectual Property Office will strive to eradicate design crimes."
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