K

Trade authorities unite to build IP safety net and protect businesses

Instant noodle products are displayed at a large supermarket in Seoul / Yonhap

As global demand for K-beauty, K-food and K-fashion soars, Korea is launching a joint government crackdown to protect small businesses from overseas knockoffs and trademark theft.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korean Intellectual Property Office said Friday they will launch a joint council to share cases of trademark and design infringement and coordinate support for small businesses expanding overseas.

The council held its inaugural meeting Friday afternoon at Government Complex Daejeon, bringing together the ministry, Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, Korean Intellectual Property Office and Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency.

The agencies said they will use overseas centers operated by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and overseas intellectual property centers operated by the Korean Intellectual Property Protection Agency to share information and respond to cases involving unauthorized trademark registrations, counterfeits and other infringements.

The Korea SMEs and Startups Agency operates 22 Global Business Centers in 14 countries, while the Korean Intellectual Property Protection Agency operates 10 overseas intellectual property centers supporting businesses in 40 countries, according to the ministry.

Officials said the agencies will also connect export support programs with intellectual property protection services so businesses receiving help with overseas expansion can obtain protection assistance at the same time.

The move comes in response to reports of counterfeit K-beauty products flooding major online platforms like Amazon and TikTok Shop, including fake versions of Beauty of Joseon’s viral Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics sunscreen. According to the ministry, these knockoffs, alongside pervasive trademark squatting targeting hit exports like Samyang’s Buldak instant noodles, have made proactive enforcement an urgent economic priority.

"Counterfeiting or imitating K-brands goes beyond economic losses; it poses a grave threat to a company's survival by severely damaging its corporate and brand image," said Shim Jae-yoon, director general for global growth policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. "We will further strengthen inter-agency collaboration to minimize intellectual property damage faced by our small and medium-sized enterprises during the export process."

Park Jin-hwan, director general for intellectual property dispute response at the Intellectual Property Protection Agency, emphasized proactive support.

"The key is to offer preventive support so that brands built through the hard work of small businesses are not unexpectedly damaged by unauthorized trademark squatting or counterfeit goods when expanding overseas," Park said. "By closely linking the Ministry's export support infrastructure with the Agency's dispute response system, we will work to build an IP safety net that enables our small and medium-sized enterprises to grow abroad with confidence."

The agencies also plan joint educational programs and briefings on overseas intellectual property protection and dispute response, with the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and Korean Intellectual Property Protection Agency expected to sign a memorandum of understanding.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.