Seoul Customs House signed MOUs for IPR protection with major e-marketplaceson August 18, 2006.
Signing parties are Interpark, Interpark G-market, Daum onket, “mple online” and GS-estore.
These five companies are ranking the 1st to 5th in terms of the market share in the domestic online market, except Auction with which Seoul Customs already signed an MOU last April 14. Their combined sales account for 45% of the total sales in Korea’s internet market.
Currently, transactions in the cyber shopping malls are booming, with the total sales jumping from 2.4 trillion won in 2001 to 10.7 trillion won in 2005, and e-market places(online markets) are a driving force behind the growth of the cyber market.
However, IPR infringement cases including infringement of trademark are also increasing in the e-market places.
Against this backdrop, signing MOUs with leading online marketplaces is expected to help root out illicit transactions of IPR-violating goods on the internet by allowing information sharing with online sellers.