Online Counterfeit Product Reports Increase by 200%... KIPO Strengthens Crackdown and Damage Relief Measures

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The number of reports of counterfeit goods traded online has surged by more than 200% in just one year. The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) plans to strengthen crackdowns in line with the increase in online transactions of counterfeit goods and enhance consumer damage relief measures.

On the 14th, KIPO announced the establishment of the "Online Counterfeit Goods Prevention Measures," which includes these details, at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on COVID-19 chaired by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun.

According to KIPO, the transaction amount of online shopping malls, as compiled by Statistics Korea, increased by 15.2 trillion KRW from 86.6 trillion KRW in January-August last year to 101.8 trillion KRW in January-August this year.

In particular, KIPO reported that the number of online counterfeit goods reports received during the same period rose from 4,194 cases to 12,767 cases. Compared to the same period last year, the number of reports this year surged by 204.4%. KIPO interprets this as the spread of COVID-19 nationwide leading to increased online shopping mall transactions, which in turn has activated counterfeit goods transactions.

Accordingly, based on the online counterfeit goods prevention measures, KIPO plans to efficiently block the rapidly increasing distribution of counterfeit goods online with limited enforcement personnel and focus on minimizing consumer damage.

Considering the recent restrictions on on-site crackdowns due to COVID-19, enforcement will be conducted by temporarily deploying eight offline enforcement specialists from the Intellectual Property Protection Agency to online monitoring. They will expand sales restriction measures such as post deletions and site closures, focusing on areas threatening public health and safety.

Additionally, special judicial police for trademarks will conduct focused investigations on mass distributors and habitual sellers to block counterfeit goods distribution. In the mid to long term, KIPO plans to prepare for the continuous increase in online distribution by reinforcing investigative personnel and advancing investigative techniques such as digital forensics.

KIPO will also enhance the effectiveness of consumer damage relief. By cooperating with trademark holders to provide counterfeit goods appraisal results to more brands, they aim to support victims of counterfeit goods purchases in directly obtaining refunds and compensation from sellers.

Furthermore, by expanding the damage compensation system where online platform companies first compensate for counterfeit goods purchase damages and then claim subrogation rights from the respective open markets, consumers will be able to receive compensation easily and quickly.

KIPO Commissioner Kim Yong-rae said, "The online distribution of counterfeit goods is rapidly increasing amid the COVID-19 crisis. KIPO will enhance investigative capabilities and expand organizations and personnel to prepare for the online and intelligent nature of intellectual property crimes, thereby establishing a fair competition order in online transactions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.