SEOUL, South Korea -- When most people think of Asian countries where intellectual property rights are readily flouted, I imagine they usually think of places like Vietnam, Thailand and especially China. I've noticed so many examples of it here that it surprises me.
You can see here a box of doughnuts from "Double Donuts" which bears a striking resemblance to an American chain that's also quite popular here. This place is not flying under the radar; it's operating right by a busy subway station.
The other picture is of a candy bar called "KicKer" -- something found in any convenience store. In all fairness, this candy bar has little ruler markings printed into it.
I've found an ice cream place called "Ba-su-kin Robbins," loosely named after its founder. Its sign bore a strong resemblance to a U.S. chain. There are also a growing number of folks selling pirated DVDs on the street side. Some are permanent and some aren't, but they're all very noticeable. There are even some right in Gangnam, only blocks away from the headquarters of Samsung, many top law firms, and the Korea Intellectual Property Institute. Many foreign businesspeople and Korean actors who probably star in many pirated movies must see these, but it doesn't seem to change anything.
Finally, I had an idea: These are all instances where no one seeing the store or product would actually think the maligned trademark holder had something to do with the offending product. What I mean is, no one eating at Double Donuts would mistakenly think they were eating Dunkin Donuts. Perhaps, I thought, trademark protection law in Korea only protects TM-holders against consumer confusion, and simply doesn't recognize "TM dilution" the way U.S. courts do. This is the idea that a proliferation of knock-off products cheapens the good name or status of the original product, thereby hurting its business.
Then I saw a street vendor selling rip-off Nike and North Face shirts -- not with similar logos, but identical ones. There goes my theory. I think I'll look for an intellectual property professor this week and bother him about it.
Anthony Bessette is studying abroad at Yonsei University for the spring 2009 semester.
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