Girl group BLACKPINK wrapped up their world tour “BORN PINK” last month with a successful four-city encore stadium tour in North America. (Image courtesy of YG Entertainment)
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korean Intellectual Property Office’s Special Police Unit for Trademarks (known as The SJP) has announced that it will take action against fake goods at Blackpink’s final world tour concert at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul’s Guro-gu on the weekend of September 16-17. This special unit was established in 2021 to combat intellectual property crimes.
Their primary focus will be on counterfeit fan merchandise associated with Blackpink. The KIPO explained that they have already identified a significant number of fake Blackpink-related products, mainly sold online, and have taken steps to remove posts and accounts linked to these counterfeit goods.
In response, The SJP plans to increase patrols around subway stations and major entrances to the Sky Dome, where a large number of concert-goers are expected to gather. They will also conduct targeted investigations against large-scale and habitual counterfeit sellers based on information obtained during their inquiries.
Additionally, they will work with major Korean entertainment agencies to monitor online platforms for counterfeit goods related to Korean culture.
The Korean Intellectual Property Office’s Special Police Unit for Trademarks, or The SJP, has a history of successful actions. Recently, they made headlines for uncovering patent infringement by a well-known fashion influencer.
This fashion influencer was sentenced to prison for producing and distributing over 20,000 imitations and counterfeits of clothing and footwear from famous domestic and foreign brands like Chanel and Prada, with a total value of 34.4 billion won. This marked the first case of imprisonment for violating design-related laws.
The Special Police Unit for Technology and Design of the Korean Intellectual Property Office and the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office jointly announced on Thursday that they have charged Park, a 34-year-old individual who heads Company H, which operates a blog with 14 million visitors, for violating the Design Protection Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
Counterfeits caught by the Patent Office (Image courtesy of KIPO)
Park started as a fashion influencer on her Naver blog in November 2020 and later established a legal entity. Initially, she copied designs from famous brands for clothes and fashion accessories and sold them under her own brand. Clothes were sourced from suppliers in Seoul’s Dongdaemun area, jewelry from Jongno, and shoes from Seongsu-dong shoemaking district.
Wholesale operations were handled by an overseas company. Park also hired several employees for marketing, customer service, and product photography. Later, she shifted to a membership program for regular customers and sold counterfeit goods to members, even replicating famous brand logos, resulting in substantial profits.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
