The Korean Intellectual Property Office's trademark special investigative police said on the 1st that it had sent A (38) to the prosecution on charges of violating trademark law for distributing counterfeit goods worth 340 billion won, including Chanel accessories.
A is suspected of selling over 40,000 counterfeit items from January to April. The Korean Intellectual Property Office discovered a wholesale company promoting these items on social media (SNS) and seized counterfeit goods from A's large store operating in Busan after a two-month investigation.
Seventy-eight percent of the seized items were counterfeit luxury accessory items from brands such as Chanel, Hermès, Cartier, Dior, and Van Cleef & Arpels. Twenty percent were miscellaneous goods that illegally used trademarks of Pokémon, Haniwoo, and Kakao Friends characters. Two percent were counterfeit items from fashion brands like MLB.
A created counterfeit luxury accessories and character merchandise using high-quality stainless materials used for surgical instrument manufacturing, and sold them wholesale. Some were sold directly to consumers in the store. Shin Sang-gon, director of the Industrial Property Protection Cooperation Division, noted, 'We will eradicate the distribution of counterfeit goods that threaten the genuine market.'