Confiscated fake products nearly double during H1: data

Fake products confiscated by South Korea's customs agency nearly doubled on-year during the first half due to an intensifying crackdown on violation of brands and other intellectual property rights, a report showed Monday.

The value of confiscated counterfeit products illegally using famous foreign and domestic brands was estimated at 615.9 billion won (US$543.6 million) during the January-June period, up from 346.8 billion won a year earlier, according to the report by the Korea Customs Service (KCS).

The KCS seized those products in a total of 315 crackdowns, which also jumped from 227 cases reported during the same period a year earlier.

The spike is due mostly to the customs agency's amped-up efforts to prevent illegal copycat products from being traded across the board, the KCS explained.

In terms of caught cases, Luis Vuitton brands made up the largest 53 out of 315, followed by fake Chanel and Gucci products with the same 51, the report showed.

By items, toys and stationery products accounted for the largest proportion, followed by clothing, electric and electronic products, bags and shoes that carried forged brand names, the customs agency said.

In particular, the KCS said that number of confiscated products with faked domestic brands or designs came to a total of 85,881 items during the first half. The figure far exceeded the full-year number reported in 2011, it added.

The customs agency explained that the increase comes from its intensified efforts to crack down on products using faked domestic brands, a move aimed at protecting small and medium-sized companies unable to protect their brands and other intellectual property rights. (Yonhap)