Every year the Ministry of Finance of Japan (MOF) reports on confiscated intellectual property-infringing items imported into Japan (you can review our report on the results of 2017). Customs catches certainly are not comprehensive, but the results continue to concern.
The MOF published results for 2020. For the first time since 2017, Japanese customs officials caught over 30,000 individual cases of IP-infringing imports. The number of total items was down, as small-scale mailings instead of bulk imports of infringing products were far more common, but totaled 589,000 items.
While Chinese infringements were still by far the majority (over 86%), Vietnam’s imports have incrementally but surely been on the rise, nearly doubling over the past few years and was the second-largest source in 2020, followed by the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Republic of Korea (South Korea). While counterfeit items infringing on trademarks were in the vast majority, Customs also captured many copyright-infringing items such as DVDs. The MOF shows photographs of many captured items in its report.
As we have noted in the past, use of counterfeit or other IP-infringing goods may be relatively low among young people, but it is still quite a problem that the government is trying to address. Though Japan’s population is shrinking, it still is a large, wealthy market targeted by counterfeiters, and the government is eager to discourage them and would-be buyers.
* The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.
** For questions or consultation, please contact us for more information.
Taro Yaguchi
Sources
Japan Ministry of Finance. “令和２年の税関における知的財産侵害物品の差止状況（詳細） [Detailed report on Customs’ import suspensions of intellectual property infringing items in 2020.” Accessed March 18, 2021.
Header image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay.
