Dongwon Group affiliate food company Dongwon F&B was raided by special judicial police of the Ministry of Intellectual Property (formerly the Korean Intellectual Property Office) in connection with a dispute over fish cake product packaging design with CJ CheilJedang(097950). A dispute between food companies over product packaging design has escalated into a compulsory investigation.
According to legal sources, special judicial police officers under the Ministry of Intellectual Property searched the Dongwon F&B office at Dongwon Group's headquarters in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 10th.
The raid was reportedly related to allegations that Dongwon F&B's "Busan Fish Cake" product packaging design resembles CJ CheilJedang's fish cake product design. The special judicial police were said to have secured materials related to the product design development and decision-making process through the search and seizure.
CJ CheilJedang and Dongwon F&B have been at odds over fish cake product packaging design. CJ CheilJedang reportedly raised an issue on the grounds that the colors and design used by Dongwon F&B on the Busan Fish Cake packaging are similar to its own products.
Dongwon F&B, meanwhile, says it did not copy any particular company's design. It noted that fish cake products commonly use similar colors and packaging designs in the market, so appearance being partly similar alone cannot be viewed as design right infringement.
A Dongwon Group official said, "The product in question features a design that was reviewed by a law firm and a patent law firm during the launch process," adding, "The design right infringement claim raised by CJ CheilJedang is a one-sided assertion only."
In the investigation ahead, the key issue is expected to be whether there is a legally protectable similarity between the design for which CJ CheilJedang claims rights and the Dongwon F&B product. In addition to similarities in the overall shape, color, and patterns of the product packaging, whether the design was registered earlier and protected, and how Dongwon F&B developed the design, could be factors for judgment.
The Ministry of Intellectual Property's special judicial police is an organization that specializes in investigating crimes infringing intellectual property rights—such as trademarks, patents, utility models, trade secrets, and designs—and referring them to the prosecution. In addition to design right infringement, certain unfair competition acts, such as imitating and distributing the shape of goods made by others, also fall within its investigative scope.