More Than 30,000 Counterfeit Shipments Seized in Japan

According to the Ministry of Finance of Japan, the number of shipments seized by Japanese Customs for the importation of counterfeit goods was over 30,000 last year. This amount is an increase of nearly 20% from last year, and this is the second largest number documented since records began in 1987.

90% of all seized shipments were imported from China with Hong Kong and the Philippines being the second and third most common locations to be imported from.

With regard to the goods, the import of electronic products such as headphones increased significantly with about six times as many counterfeit headphone shipments received as compared with last year. A relatively large increase in smartphone cases, ink cartridges for printers, and clothing were also recorded.

From the IP perspective, counterfeit brand goods which infringed on trademarks saw the largest number of cases of seized shipments and products, while the number of cases related to counterfeit goods which infringed on design rights increased by 16 times compared to last year.