Status of Import Bans on IP-Infringing Goods by Japanese Customs

As data on goods whose import was suspended by Japanese customs for infringement of intellectual property rights, I would like to share the figures for the first half of this year—that is, from January to June.

Goods originating from China were by far the most numerous, accounting for 89.0%, or roughly 90%, followed by Hong Kong at about 4% and the Philippines at about 2%, while Korea accounted for 1.3%. In terms of case counts, China had 12,308 cases and Korea had 176.

The trend is as follows.

That is, ten years ago Korea accounted for 12.4%, which has decreased substantially. Compared with last year it has risen slightly, but this does not appear to carry any particular significance; it has generally hovered around 1%.

In other words, among the products whose import was banned by Japanese customs for IP infringement, the share accounted for by Korean products is around 1%, with the number of cases at roughly 150.

Among intellectual property rights, trademark infringement is by far the most common ground for an import ban, at around 80–90%. Next is design (design rights) infringement, but it is incomparably smaller than trademark infringement, and import bans due to patent or copyright infringement are very few.

Compared with patent infringement, trademark infringement may be easier to detect, but it is also easier to commit, so it is likely true that such infringements are numerous.

Because these are trademark infringements, clothing, bags, belts and the like have traditionally been common, but a notable feature this year is that pharmaceuticals have increased somewhat.

Below are some examples.

This content draws heavily on the Japanese Ministry of Finance website. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us at any time.

Patent Attorney Won-gi Jung