A staff member from Trade related IPR Protection Association inspects the authenticity of luxury brand Givenchy's mini bag at Musinsa's warehouse in Yeosu, Gyeonggi Province, on June 10. Courtesy of Musinsa

By Kim Jae-heun

Musinsa will conduct a full-scale inspection on its imported luxury goods in collaboration with the Trade related IPR Protection Association (TIPA) so as to ensure they are dealing only with authentic products, Korea's largest online fashion company said Monday. TIPA is a local non-profit organization that has been established to protect intellectual property. It is unknown whether Musinsa has ever before checked the authenticity of foreign products it imports.

Musinsa is one of Korea's largest fashion platforms.

The decision came after Musinsa's counterfeiting scandal in January when it was caught selling fake apparel of the American contemporary brand Essentials. The company said it imported Essentials' items through one of the company's official retailers, but instead they received imitations.

Musinsa expects TIPA to filter out counterfeit luxury products that are stored at its warehouse in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, utilizing a self-developed mobile application.

The online fashion firm signed a memorandum of understanding with TIPA in April to become the association's special member, which grants Musinsa access to receive product verification information for international brands including the ability to inspect intellectual property infringement.

It is both Musinsa and the TIPA's ultimate goal to prevent fake luxury products from continuing to be sold in the local market by using the real-time monitoring system.

The very first targets of its inspection with TIPA will include global luxury brands like Prada, Miu Miu, Givenchy and Tods.

Only products that have passed the verification process will be sold at Musinsa's luxury boutique mall. The company said it will further cooperate with the Korea Appraisal Institute of Luxury Goods to strengthen the inspection procedure of imitation products, if necessary.

"We will cooperate with TIPA to conduct more thorough inspections of luxury goods purchased overseas for customers who trust and use Musinsa. We will also take the lead in protecting fashion brands' intellectual property rights with a sense of responsibility and do our best to increase credibility so that our customers can feel safe and satisfied with our products," a Musinsa official said.