The Special Judicial Police operating under the Korean Intellectual Property Office (the "KIPO SJP") was established in 2010, to focus on criminal investigations (including raids) into cases of trademark infringement and unfair competition causing source confusion. Since then, they have seized hundreds of thousands of counterfeit goods. 

In 2019, the investigative scope of the KIPO SJP was expanded to include patent infringements, design infringements, trade secret misappropriation, and unauthorized imitations. In 2022 alone, they investigated approximately 20% of all technology infringement cases, and recently played a pivotal role in preventing technology leakage by apprehending offenders involved in the illicit transfer of core semiconductor technology to China. 

On December 20, 2023, an amendment to the law governing the scope of duties and rights of the KIPO SJP was passed to further broaden the KIPO SJP's authority in order to encompass the following: 

1) unauthorized imitations of the interior and exterior designs of renowned business establishments; 
2) acts causing confusion through the use of famous trademarks in business establishments;
3) unauthorized uses of famous trademarks on unrelated products which could cause harm to distinctiveness or reputation; 
4) utility model rights infringements; 
5) attempts to disable protective measures for information safeguarded under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, such as hacking; and 
6) investigation of all acts of infringement concerning trade secrets, and not just trade secret misappropriation.

The amendment is expected to become effective sometime in January 2024. We will continue to closely monitor this development and provide timely updates.