The 'OFF BEAUTY,' which positions itself as an urban beauty outlet and is expanding its business nationwide, has been found to have unlawfully utilized the corporate images (CIs) of some well-known cosmetics brands without permission during its marketing process. Companies that confirmed the damage have begun legal action citing intellectual property (IP) infringement.
OFF BEAUTY is an offline warehouse-style beauty boutique operated by Q&D Beauty International, a subsidiary of Daemyung Chemical. It began its business by opening a road shop with an area of 198 square meters (about 60 pyeong) in Gwangjang Market, Jongno-gu, Seoul, at the end of May. Recently, it opened direct-operated stores in Mangwon-dong, Insadong, and Anam-dong and is preparing to sequentially enter cities like Cheonan, Seongnam, Guri, Daejeon, and Chuncheon, expanding its business nationwide. It is also pushing for business expansion in the form of franchises.
According to relevant industry sources on the 4th, OFF BEAUTY has a distribution structure that allows for the bulk direct purchase of various cosmetics, mask packs, and health functional foods that are nearing their expiration dates or were overproduced, offering discounts ranging from 10% to as much as 90%. It also directly signs supply contracts with some cosmetics companies to sell products.
This business structure has attracted attention for operating as a sales outlet for stock products that would have been discarded under normal circumstances, thus enhancing consumer benefits. Daemyung Chemical, the parent company of Q&D Beauty International, which operates OFF BEAUTY, expanded its business into beauty distribution by acquiring the cosmetics overseas export agency 'Most' through its other subsidiary, POND GROUP, last September.
However, in this process, OFF BEAUTY has reportedly misused the corporate images of certain well-known brands with high consumer demand for marketing without obtaining separate permissions. For example, its official website introduces APR's 'MEDIHEAL' and Amorepacific Corporation's 'COSRX' and 'Innisfree' as 'partner companies.' This has led to accusations that it presents itself as having an official partnership with these brands, inducing the entry of additional brands and using it as a promotional tool in the franchise recruitment process.
After confirming this fact, the affected companies have recently begun legal actions against OFF BEAUTY, sending notices of content. An APR official stated, "We discovered that OFF BEAUTY had unauthorized use of our MEDIHEAL brand logo and conveyed a correction request through our legal team. The logo has since been removed from the OFF BEAUTY website."
An official from Amorepacific Corporation also stated, "We requested the deletion of our three brands (Astra, COSRX, and Innisfree) listed as partner companies on the OFF BEAUTY website via a notice of content, and we have since confirmed that they have all been deleted from the page."
According to the 'Act on the Prevention of Unfair Competition and the Protection of Trade Secrets,' using another's widely recognized trade name to display and advertise one's product constitutes 'unfair competition acts.' Affected companies can demand the cessation of unauthorized use and may seek compensation for damages incurred.
A legal expert noted, "It is not illegal to use trademarks solely for product introduction and source indication purposes during the resale process. However, in the case of OFF BEAUTY, its explicit designation as 'partner company' implies a strong intention of unfair competition, which constitutes a legal violation."
An OFF BEAUTY representative remarked, "The posts were made for the purpose of introducing brands sold in the store, and we were unaware of any issues. We take immediate action whenever there is a request for brand deletion."