Consumers who spot imitations of Korean brands, or "knockoffs," while traveling or staying abroad can now easily report them by taking a photo with their mobile phones.
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) said on the 29th that it will introduce a "Fake K-Brand Reporting Center" and a "K-Brand Guardian" service on the 30th to respond to "fake K-brands," including counterfeit goods, unauthorized trademark preoccupation, and store concept imitation that are spreading overseas.
The Fake K-Brand Reporting Center is a channel that allows the public to easily report suspected fake K-brand cases found at overseas stores, online platforms, and social networking services (SNS). The center will be established within the "K-Brand Protection Portal" operated by the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency. It provides a dedicated QR code for reporting and image- and location-based simplified reporting functions.
Received reports are reviewed for similarity to Korean trademarks, the possibility of mistake or confusion, and the likelihood of infringement, and then classified by infringement type—such as trade name and signboard theft, counterfeit goods distribution, and damage to Korean Wave identity—and compiled into a database. When a report is deemed valid, the relevant brand rights holder is promptly notified and given support for follow-up responses.
In line with the opening of the reporting center, KIPO will also hold a K-Brand Guardian Angel campaign in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, on the 30th. At the site, the office plans to spread public participation in reporting and a genuine-product purchasing culture through experiences such as fake K-brand reporting, comparative exhibitions of genuine and counterfeit products, and the issuance of guardian angel certificates.
In addition, KIPO offers the K-Brand Guardian service so that domestic companies can identify in advance the risk of their trademarks being registered without authorization by locals overseas. This service is a dispute-prevention K-brand protection service that comprehensively analyzes overseas trademark application information, unauthorized preoccupation history, repeated application patterns by applicants and agents, and similarity to Korean trademarks, providing risk grades and alerts by country and industry.
When a company registers its trademark with the unauthorized preoccupation notification service and a similar trademark is confirmed to have been filed overseas, the service automatically notifies the company immediately by email of the country where it was found and the trademark information. Based on applicant, address, and agent information, it analyzes application patterns such as repeated applications, multi-country applications, and expansion of designated goods to identify candidate trademark brokers and provide them to companies in need. It also plans to provide a function that allows companies to check similarity with trademarks in major overseas countries by entering a trademark name or image.
"With K-brands enjoying high popularity worldwide, the government's effective response to attempts to imitate or free-ride on them without authorization is more important than anything else," said Kim Yong-sun, Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office. "Now, not only the government and companies but also the public and consumers will report fake K-brands together and spread a genuine-product purchasing culture. We will strengthen a multidimensional response system to protect K-brands more tightly overseas."
