South Korea Addresses Rising Counterfeit Cosmetics by Promoting IP Infringement Reporting Mechanism

On 4 March 2026 Korea Cosmetic Association (KCIA) announced that, recently, there have been continuous cases of counterfeit cosmetics and intellectual property (IP) infringement through online and overseas distribution channels. Accordingly, the Korea Cosmetic Association guides companies that discover counterfeit products or suspected IP infringement cases to promptly report them through the “Intellectual Property Infringement One-Stop Reporting and Counselling Centre” The “Intellectual Property Infringement One-Stop Reporting and Counselling Centre” is an official reporting window operated by the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency (KOIPA) under the Ministry of Intellectual Property. It allows reporting of acts related to intellectual property infringement and unfair competition. Reported cases are used by the Intellectual Property Office as material for special judicial police investigations, unfair competition investigations, and recommendations for correction. Types of Reportable Rights: Companies can directly file reports for the following types of rights: 1. Trademark (counterfeit goods) infringement 2. Patent / Utility model infringement 3. Design infringement 4. Trade secret infringement 5. Unfair competition