The Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) recently announced that its Special Judicial Police division (SJP) detected a family advertising and selling counterfeit branded products through live broadcasts on social media platforms, and subsequently transferred the case to the Prosecutor's Office to investigate this violation of the Trademark Act. The accused individuals packaged counterfeit products for delivery at a hidden workshop disguised as a residence from June 2018 to November 2019, and have reportedly sold approximately 26,000 pieces of counterfeit products. The value of the corresponding authentic products amount to approximately KRW 62.5 billion (about USD 52.7 million). The SJP conducted a raid of the accused individuals' hidden workshop after tracking and investigating the accused individuals for nearly two years.

Due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, the supply of counterfeit products available online has significantly increased. Statistics issued by KIPO shows that a total of 9,717 cases involving online sales of counterfeit products were reported during the first half of this year, which is an increase of 212% compared to the equivalent period last year (3,114 cases), and far exceeds the total number of reports made all of last year, which was 6,661 cases. In contrast, there have been only 115 reported cases involving offline sales of counterfeit products in the first half of this year, which is merely 1.2% of the total number of counterfeit cases reported. This clearly shows that the preferred supply channels for counterfeit products have switched from offline to online, presumably due to the sharp increase in demand for online consumption.

Despite this, it has not been an easy task for investigative authorities to substantiate allegations of online supply of counterfeit products or to access the supply of such products. Nevertheless, the SJP was able to identify this particular case through its prolonged investigation efforts, and has stated that they will do more to protect the rights of both brand owners and consumers in connection with the sale of counterfeits on social media.

Considering the increase in online infringement, right holders are advised to consider taking measures through proactive cooperation with the SJP at KIPO.