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It is remarkable
that a market as well developed
as that of South Korea, the world’s
12th largest economy, there should
be such a high instance of infringement
of Intellectual Property Rights.
It is not as though Korea does
not understand Intellectual Property;
328,000 intellectual property
registrations were filed in 2004
ranking the country 4th in the
world. And Korea recorded 3,536
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
applications ranking it 7th in
the world.
With all this activity to protect
its’ Intellectual Property,
in all fairness, one would expect
a reciprocal arrangement in
terms of protecting other’s
intellectual property. But this
is not the case. Today on the
streets of Seoul, Pusan, Daegu
& Daejeon one can find a
multitude of counterfeit or
fake products; some are simple
but blatant copies of international
fashion designs, DVD’s or software
games, others like fake drugs,
pharmaceuticals or auto-parts
are much more harmful to our
health & safety. Unfortunately,
the people involved in the manufacture,
distribution & selling of
counterfeit brands are often
also involved in the more harmful
and downright dangerous manufacture,
distribution & selling of
fake drugs, pharmaceuticals
and other consumer products.
Clearly the Government needs
to protect society from exposure
to these dangers.
Some laws are in place, but
they are not enforced. We ask
the Korean authorities to increase
their attention to IPR violations,
to allocate manpower to enforcing
the law at the local police
level, and at the Prosecution
level. We request that the Korean
government focuses more on mass
media actions aimed at the Korean
public & consumers, stressing
the illegality and seriousness
of IPR infringement. We recommend
that Korean law is modified
to enable stiffer sanctions
on IPR violators to be introduced.
A renewed approach to reducing
IPR infringement with tangible
results will encourage investment
in Korea & help the Government
to reach its ambition to be
the Hub of North East Asia.
Certainly without any improvements
the country will not attract
the Foreign direct investment
which it seeks. |
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