Recently, Mr. Wonil Chung, a partner at Chung & Partners, has successfully represented NHS, Inc., an internationally renowned U.S. company which sells skateboards, apparel under various trademarked brand worldwide, in policing their trademark in South Korea.  NHS, Inc. and its Korean distributor had found that counterfeits of SantaCruz, one of the NHS, Inc.’s premium brand, had been made and sold in numerous online shopping mall sites in Korea.  They requested Mr. Wonil Chung to stop them from selling the counterfeits.  Mr. Wonil Chung sent cease and desist letters to the online shopping sites which sold the counterfeits, notifying their trademark infringement and breach of relevant IP laws in Korea.  About a half month later, all the online shopping sites gave up selling the counterfeits  as ordered by the letters.

Policing your intellectual property in Korea is very important in your business.  The process is quite similar to the U.S. legal system, that is hiring a competent IP lawyer in Korea and sending a cease and desist letter to the offender.  In many cases the offenders stop selling the counterfeit after receiving the letter.  If they refuse to stop, filing a lawsuit and filing a report to the investigating authority shall be the next step.

If you have more questions regarding your IP issues in Korea, please visit our legal consultation page.

© 2009 Mr. Wonil Chung, a Korean Lawyer/Chung & Partners, a Korean Law Firm.  All rights reserved.  Some copyrights, photos, icons, trademarks, trade dress, or other commercial symbols that appear on this post are the property of the respective owners.