Correction Measures for False Indication of Intellectual Property Rights?... Over 40% of Confiscated Items Still Sold as Is

Case Examples of Crackdown on False Indication of Intellectual Property Rights. Provided by the Office of Assemblyman Yoon Kwan-seok.

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] There have been criticisms that the Patent Office's crackdown and corrective measures on false intellectual property rights (hereinafter IP rights) labeling lack effectiveness. This comes as an investigation revealed that 40% of products subjected to corrective measures after being caught for false labeling continue to be openly sold in the market without correction.

According to Yoon Kwan-seok, Chairman of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee (Namdong-eul, Democratic Party), the Patent Office has been conducting a false IP rights labeling crackdown project since 2017 through a private contract with the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency.

The project focuses on inspecting and monitoring IP rights labeling and advertising, such as patents and designs, on major open markets to prevent consumer damage, and taking corrective actions such as modifying or deleting IP rights labeling on violating products identified through the crackdown.

However, Chairman Yoon claims that many products caught in the crackdown continue to be sold openly without reflecting the corrective measures, indicating that follow-up actions after the crackdown lack effectiveness.

For example, the Patent Office conducted an intensive crackdown on false IP rights labeling in the cosmetics sector for six weeks starting in March, identifying false labeling in 15 products and taking corrective actions. However, it was confirmed that 40% of these products continue to be sold in the market without any corrective measures.

Similarly, during the mask intensive inspection conducted from February to May last year, 23 products were identified for false IP rights labeling and reportedly corrected, but in reality, 11 cases (47.8%) among the 23 products continued to be sold with false labeling.

Chairman Yoon stated, “It appears that corrective measures are not properly implemented after the crackdown on false IP rights labeling in the market,” and added, “If the Patent Office focuses only on the crackdown performance without ensuring corrective actions, the crackdown will have little significance going forward.”

He further emphasized, “To reduce consumer damage caused by false labeling, the Patent Office needs to take a more proactive approach by expanding the scope and duration of investigations,” and said, “The Patent Office should establish effective corrective action plans and expand IP rights education and promotional activities to prevent consumer damage.”

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