<Anchor>
Recently, the market for design accessories aimed at young people is growing. Unique design is the key, but as soon as a new product is released, it is often the case that a copy of this product is poured into the market at a lower price.
First, reporter Kim Min-jung heard the story of a company that suffered damage.
<Reporter>
This is a retro-style plate with yellow and blue checkered patterns and various flower shapes.
The product on the left is a product made by a domestic design accessory company at a ceramics factory in Yeoju a year ago and sold in Korea, and on the right is a product that Chinese import/wholesale company B announced two weeks ago.
It's imported from China, and there's even a naming event, but it's the exact same design.
The company said it learned about the event after receiving customer reports.
[Hyun Mo/CEO of design props company: I was suddenly blocked because I commented that it is not very similar to ours. I blocked all those who commented (our customers) and deleted their posts too.] When
Hyun's acquaintances and customers continued to protest with comments, etc., I got a call from Company B.
[Design props company representative: I take my design and sell it there.]
[Call of import/wholesale company B: If we (we) steal, you can report it. Why can't you report it?] Since
Hyun's product has not received a design patent, there is no legal objection to it.
[Importer/wholesaler company B’s currency: Please make it public. Since we have no legal problems, we will also take legal action.]
A company that imported copy products to the original author who protested came out with a positive message.
[Importer/Wholesale Company B side: There are Chinese overseas wholesale sites such as Alibaba and Taobao. Before sourcing, we also do a search. Do a search once to see if there is a design patent or not. The law will decide.] As the
protests continued, Company B ended up discarding the entire product, but said that it would prepare a defamation lawsuit against Hyun and customers who raised problems in the Internet community, saying that they suffered economic damage.
[Hyun Mo/CEO of design props company: Why do I design this after struggling for days and days, I just need to take it off and sell it. Actually, I'm so nauseous. Too… Too much]
(Video coverage: Choi Dae-woong, Video editing: Park Ki-duk)
▶ It takes time and money to
issue a
'patent'... Abuse of 'copy'