Korea Consumer Agency, IP office uncover 634 false intellectual property claims

A hair care product flagged for displaying a nonexistent patent registration number [Korea Consumer Agency and Korean Intellectual Property Office]
A hair care product flagged for displaying a nonexistent patent registration number [Korea Consumer Agency and Korean Intellectual Property Office]

The Korea Consumer Agency announced Monday that a joint investigation with the Korean Intellectual Property Office into intellectual property labeling on cosmetics sold online uncovered a total of 634 false claims.

The probe covered roughly 10,000 product listings across seven online shopping platforms — Naver Smart Store, Lotte On, 11st, SSG.com, Auction, G-Market and Coupang Inc — over approximately six weeks from May 1 to June 12.

The agency said it decided to conduct the joint investigation because cosmetics are frequently purchased without in-person inspection and are applied directly to the body, meaning labels such as "patented ingredient" can heavily influence consumer choices.

False patent claims accounted for the vast majority of violations, at 626 cases, or 98.7 percent of the total. Design rights violations numbered six, while utility model rights and trademark violations each accounted for one case.

The most common type of false labeling involved displaying already-expired rights as still valid, accounting for 514 cases. Listings showing nonexistent registration numbers followed at 73 cases, with 30 cases involving products falsely marked as having a pending application.

By product category, hair care items recorded the highest number of violations at 242 cases, followed by skin care at 97, body care at 91 and cleansing products at 67. The agencies noted that false labeling was more prevalent among products emphasizing functional benefits such as hair loss prevention or specific active ingredients.

The Korea Consumer Agency's citizen advertising watchdog group participated in the investigation, helping drive an 85.9 percent increase in detected violations compared with a first-quarter probe conducted by the intellectual property office alone. It was the second joint investigation between the two agencies, following a similar exercise targeting kitchenware last year.

The intellectual property office notified sellers of all 634 violations and completed corrective measures. It also plans to track each seller's violation history and refer repeat offenders to a formal administrative investigation.

The Korea Consumer Agency said it would "continue to work closely with the intellectual property office to monitor false intellectual property labeling on products that directly affect people's daily lives."

A hair care product found displaying an expired patent [Korea Consumer Agency and Korean Intellectual Property Office]
A hair care product found displaying an expired patent [Korea Consumer Agency and Korean Intellectual Property Office]

spa@heraldcorp.com