South Korea to Enforce IP Rights on Imports

SEOUL–South Korea government said that it will ban import of products that violate local Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), starting from July 2010.

According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the new rules will apply to products that are in breach of local patents, design, logo and other exclusive rights held by South Korean companies.

The move comes after a law was passed by parliament to authorize the Korea Customs Service (KCS) not to exempt such products and the Korea Trade Commission to provide customs officials with a full list of such products and to take tough administrative actions such as issuing fines.

The new law which was enacted after a survey conducted on 2.107 local companies late 2009 reflected the need for a tougher stance on imports.

In 2008, losses incurred by IPRs violations reached 316.6 billion Korean won (278.3 million US dollars), up 63.2 percent from the previous year.