Korea (South) - Revised Regulations Affecting Trademarks and Allowing Parallel Imports
The Ministry of Finance and Economy has revised the
regulations in the Customs Act to permit the parallel import of
goods with effect from November 1, 1995. These revisions were
introduced because the enforcement measures enacted under the
Customs Act to prevent the import of infringing goods (reported in
our
June 1994 Newsletter (N.S. 183) and
April 1995 Newsletter (N.S. 185) were being used by
exclusive licensors, licensees and the Customs Office to prevent
the parallel importation of genuine goods into Korea. The revised
regulations deal only with trademarks and permit parallel imports
in the following circumstances:
1) the owner of the foreign and Korean trademark rights is
the same or the parties are affiliated companies; or
2) the owners of the foreign and Korean trademark rights
have an import agency relationship.
Under the revised regulations, parallel imports are also
permitted where the owners of the foreign and Korean trademark
rights are affiliated or have an import agency relationship, even
if the Korean party is an exclusive licensee. However, the
Ministry has provided that parallel imports in these circumstances
can be prohibited if the exclusive licensee does not import the
goods, but manufactures and sells them in Korea.
