As a result of an investigation by the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) and the Korean Intellectual Property Office into false labeling of kitchenware intellectual property rights, 444 instances of false and exaggerated advertising were detected among about 10,000 online sales posts.
In particular, 97.3% of the false labeling was related to patent rights (63.1%) and design rights (34.2%).
The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) announced the results of the intellectual property rights false labeling inspection targeting kitchenware on the 24th.
By product type, 'cooking tools' accounted for the most with 67.8% (301 instances) of the intellectual property rights false labeling, followed by ▲kitchen miscellaneous goods 28.6% (127 instances) ▲cooking containers 2.5% (11 instances) ▲kitchen storage products 1.1% (5 instances).
Among the types of false labeling, cases where expired rights were displayed as valid rights accounted for more than half at 51.4% (228 instances), while misreported intellectual property rights names accounted for 24.3% (108 instances), and cases showing rights that were rejected for registration also reached 12.2% (54 instances).
There were also 37 instances detected where products that had not even been applied for were marked as 'in application'.
In response, the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) noted, "Items closely related to daily life, such as kitchenware, require even greater trust in the intellectual property rights labeling," and added, "We will continue to cooperate with the Korean Intellectual Property Office to inspect false labeling of intellectual property rights on various items and strengthen consumer rights."