“Saebit Market Joint Crackdown ‘Effective’... Strengthened and Continued Enforcement”

It is analyzed that the joint crackdown by the ‘Saebit Market Counterfeit Goods Investigation Council (hereinafter referred to as the Council)’ has led to a deterrent effect on the sale of counterfeit goods. The Council, consisting of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Jung-gu Office of Seoul, and Seoul Jungbu Police Station, began its activities in February. The purpose of forming the Council is to eradicate the sale of counterfeit goods within Saebit Market.

On the 12th, the Korean Intellectual Property Office announced that on the 25th of last month, the Council conducted a simultaneous joint crackdown at Saebit Market, seizing 217 counterfeit items of famous brands such as Gucci, and non-detainedly booked four wholesale and retail business operators, including Ms. A (49, female), on charges of violating the Trademark Act.

The joint crackdown was conducted around 11 p.m. with 35 people, including 25 investigators from the Council, 7 demolition officers from Jung-gu Office, and 3 from the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency, simultaneously entering Saebit Market divided by zones. The counterfeit goods seized during the crackdown mainly consisted of clothing, hats, and sunglasses from 24 famous brands such as Prada and Gucci.

At the scene, five unauthorized yellow tents were also dismantled. Currently, only street vendors authorized by the Jung-gu Office of Seoul are allowed to operate under the permit conditions at Saebit Market. It was confirmed that the dismantled yellow tents were operating without permission from the Jung-gu Office.

If a vendor violates permit conditions by selling counterfeit goods and infringes trademark rights, the existing permit can be revoked if a sentence of a fine or higher is confirmed.

On the day of the first joint crackdown held last March at Saebit Market (yellow canopy) in Dongdaemun, Seoul. Photo by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

At the crackdown site, there was also an analysis that the Council’s activities are suppressing the sale of counterfeit goods within Saebit Market. The May joint crackdown was the second one conducted following the first in March, and this analysis is based on the fact that the scale of counterfeit goods seized and the number of bookings slightly decreased in the second crackdown.

During the first crackdown, six people were non-detainedly booked for violating the Trademark Act, and among them, four were caught operating without a permit. The counterfeit goods seized and confiscated included a total of 854 items across 8 categories from 28 brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Gucci. Comparing the first and second crackdown statuses, the number of booked individuals decreased by two, and the seized items decreased by about 600.

However, the Korean Intellectual Property Office plans to continue strengthening the crackdown on counterfeit goods sales within Saebit Market centered on the Council, without being absorbed by the numerical crackdown status.

They will frequently investigate the operational status of Saebit Market, such as the number of tents installed and the number of yellow tents with permits attached, to strengthen tailored on-site crackdowns. The Construction Management Division of Jung-gu Office will continue to revoke permits for street vendors selling counterfeit goods and dismantle unauthorized yellow tents.

This measure reflects the situation in the second joint crackdown, where many unauthorized yellow tents selling counterfeit goods without permits were forcibly dismantled.

Park Ju-yeon, head of the Trademark Special Judicial Police Division at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, “Although the crackdown by the Council appears to have somewhat suppressed the sale of counterfeit goods, yellow tents and sellers selling counterfeit goods still remain in Saebit Market, and there is even a sense that they are responding to the crackdown in an organized manner. The Korean Intellectual Property Office plans to continue focusing on cracking down on counterfeit goods and dismantling unauthorized yellow tents centered on the Council to eradicate the distribution of counterfeit goods.”

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