Coupang Strengthens Response to K-Beauty Counterfeits, Says It Will "Upgrade IP Protection System"

[Financial News] Coupang is strengthening cooperation with brand owners and upgrading its intellectual property (IP) protection system in response to the spread of counterfeit K-Beauty products.
According to industry sources on the 13th, Coupang held a Brand Protection Seminar with the Korea Cosmetic Association (KCA) on the 10th to protect the intellectual property rights of domestic cosmetics companies.
The seminar was organized to discuss response measures for protecting intellectual property and brands as the distribution of counterfeit cosmetics overseas increases alongside the spread of K-Beauty. According to the Ministry of Intellectual Property, the number of counterfeit K-Beauty products detected and blocked on overseas online platforms rose for the third consecutive year, from 16,774 cases in 2023 to 23,494 in 2024 and 36,116 last year.
At the seminar, Coupang introduced its procedures for detecting and responding to counterfeit products and gathered feedback from brand owners.
Jo Hee-kyung, director of Coupang’s IP legal team, explained, "We strictly operate a three-stage process: ‘proactive preventive measures’ to block malicious sellers from entering, ‘active detection measures’ using AI and monitoring, and ‘post-response measures’ that immediately block reported products and apply a one-strike-out policy."
Coupang will also pilot a dedicated hotline to respond quickly to reports of counterfeit products from major cosmetics brands. The company plans to establish an operating system that can receive and respond to reports on weekends, public holidays and late in the evening.
In addition, Coupang will strengthen cooperation with brands on product-identification information and distribution characteristics to improve the accuracy of counterfeit detection. Coupang plans to reflect feedback gathered at the seminar in its counterfeit-detection and response procedures and continue improving its systems and policies for protecting intellectual property rights. It will also hold regular seminars with major brand owners to share improvements to its counterfeit-response system and gather related feedback.
Nina Ramesh, head of Coupang’s IP legal division, said, "Protecting intellectual property rights is an area where continuous communication and cooperation with brand owners are essential. We will continue to listen more actively to voices from the field and steadily improve our response system in ways that brand owners can genuinely experience."
[email protected] Jang Yu-ha Reporter