Big Hit And Patent Office To Crack Down On Counterfeit BTS Products Sold At Concerts
The KIPO will be working on eradicating the infringement of portrait and trademark rights of BTS.
Big Hit Entertainment and the Korea Intellectual Property Office announced that they would be conducting a crackdown of counterfeit BTS goods. They will be making rounds near BTS’s concert held at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium on October 27-29.
According to KIPO, with K-Pop gaining global popularity, the markets for singer-related products are growing together. It also causes counterfeit products manufactured and distributed in large quantities.
During last year’s concert at the Jamsil Olympic stadium, many merchants were selling fan merchandise near the show and subway station. Most of these items were, in fact, counterfeit goods.
They also revealed that many merchants were seen selling large quantities of these counterfeit goods by installing kiosks and carrying products to walk around and sell around the vicinity of the concert.
The Patent Office is planning to work together with Big Hit to prevent the infringement of trademark rights for the distribution of counterfeit BTS goods. They will also announce on BTS’s official channel to ask fans to refrain from purchasing counterfeit items.
They are also working on enforcing the crackdown of counterfeit products sold online. Last month, they caught four wholesale companies that were criminally involved in the infringement of trademark through stationery, clothing and other miscellaneous goods. The KIPO seized all products manufactured by these companies. All companies caught are charged for selling counterfeit products branded as the original.
BTS is a cultural icon representing Korea. If counterfeit items that use BTS-related trademarks distributed widely, it will affect the public image as well as the reputation of the trademark owners and artists. For the K-Pop wave to continue to spread and grow, it is necessary to secure and protect intellectual property such as trademarks and designs quickly and efficiently.
— Park Wonju, Director of Korea Patent Office
