Customs agency finds 1.65 million knockoffs of 211 brands


Louis Vuitton was the most widely copied brand for sale in Korea, the results of a crackdown by the Korea Customs Service on counterfeit products showed Monday.

The customs agency found over 1.65 million imitation products of 211 brands offered for sale in the first half of this year, about 5 percent of which copied Korean brands.

Among the knockoffs worth a total of 615.9 billion won, Louis Vuitton was the most frequent victim, followed by Chanel, Gucci and Burberry.

Nintendo topped the list in terms of the amount of fines imposed as copyright violations using illegal game software increased, followed by Rolex, Louis Vuitton and Cartier.

By item, toys and stationery were copied the most, followed by clothing, electronics, handbags and shoes. The most frequently imitated brand in each of these item categories was Angry Birds, Calvin Klein, Nintendo, Louis Vuitton and New Balance, respectively.

The customs agency said it focused on looking for counterfeits of Korean brands this year in a bid to better protect small and medium-sized companies which lack the resources to respond to illegal acts.

Some 85,881 knockoffs of 22 Korean brands were found.

The scope of local brand counterfeiting expanded from headphones and toys to many more items including infant garments, outdoor clothing and mobile phone accessories, the KCS said.

The KCS said it will continue the crackdown to protect local small and medium-sized businesses, conduct random inspections with Internet portal service providers on counterfeit products traded online, and collect more information on brands that are copied often.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)