From 2017 to 2021, A manufactured bags and wallets of varying sizes, shapes, and purposes using fabrics from Louis Vuitton bags provided by customers. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – A South Korean court has ruled that the repurposing of luxury items, a process commonly referred to as “reform” in South Korea, constitutes trademark infringement.
According to legal sources on Sunday, the 63rd Civil Chamber of the Seoul Central District Court, in a trademark infringement prohibition case brought by Louis Vuitton against an individual referred to only as A, the owner of a reform business, determined that A should refrain from producing reform products using fabrics bearing the Louis Vuitton trademark. Additionally, A has been ordered to pay 15 million won in compensation to Louis Vuitton.
From 2017 to 2021, A manufactured bags and wallets of varying sizes, shapes, and purposes using fabrics from Louis Vuitton bags provided by customers, charging production costs ranging from 100,000 won to 700,000 won per item.
Louis Vuitton filed a lawsuit in February 2022, alleging that A had infringed on its trademark rights by undermining the origin indication and quality assurance functions of its trademark.
In line with Supreme Court precedents, the use of registered trademarks for products similar to the designated items is considered a violation of trademark rights. However, A argued that reform products do not fall under the purview of the Trademark Right Act.
He emphasized that for products to be classified as such, they should possess characteristics such as the ‘mass-production’ property, involving the repeated production of identical items, and the ‘distribution’ property, encompassing the exchange and distribution of products across multiple stages from producers to consumers. However, reform products lack these properties.
Furthermore, A contended that since there is no likelihood of confusion among bag owners between reform products and the original Louis Vuitton products, it is inappropriate to assert that he used the trademarks under the Trademark Act.
Nevertheless, the court ruled in favor of Louis Vuitton, affirming that reform products qualify as products and that A indeed used the Louis Vuitton trademark.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
