'Targeting Innocence' Massive Seizure of Counterfeit Products Including Tinyping and Sannio

Counterfeit products of popular characters, currently gaining popularity among elementary school students, have been seized in large quantities.

Counterfeit products of the popular character 'Sanrio' distributed and sold in the market. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

The Special Judicial Police for Trademarks of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (hereinafter referred to as the Trademark Special Judicial Police) recently conducted a focused crackdown on the sale of counterfeit products of famous characters and announced on the 4th that six distributors, including Mr. A, were booked without detention on charges of violating the Trademark Act.

According to the Trademark Special Judicial Police, Mr. A and others are suspected of selling counterfeit products of popular characters such as key rings, bracelets, phone grip-toks, and hairpins at stores around Namdaemun Market in Seoul.

The counterfeit products seized from the stores operated by Mr. A and others amounted to about 25,000 items. In particular, many of these included counterfeit products featuring characters from the animation "Alssong Dalssong Catch! Tinyping," Sanrio characters, and Hello Kitty characters, which are favorites among elementary school students.

The problem is that, unlike genuine products, it is difficult to verify whether counterfeit products have undergone proper procedures such as safety confirmation systems.

For the same reason, the Trademark Special Judicial Police emphasize that counterfeit products may contain harmful substances or be easily broken, potentially causing safety issues.

Currently, the government enforces laws (Article 22 of the Special Act on Safety of Children's Products) to prevent accidents involving children and to maintain and promote children's health by stipulating procedures such as the "Safety Confirmation System" to ensure the safety of products used by children.

Conversely, counterfeit products pose a problem in that they cannot guarantee such safety assurances.

Park Ju-yeon, head of the Trademark Special Judicial Police, stated, "The biggest concern when counterfeit products for children are distributed and sold is that it is difficult to guarantee children's safety. The Korean Intellectual Property Office plans to continue on-site crackdowns to eradicate the distribution of counterfeit products. We also urge consumers to be especially cautious not to purchase counterfeit products whose safety inspections are unclear."

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