English
Yes, for a broader and stronger protection in South Korea, we recommend registering your trademark in local characters.
If the trademark is registered only in its original version (Latin characters), the protection does not always properly protect its equivalent in the local language. This means that a third party could use or register the same trademark (or a similar one) in local characters.
In additional to the legal benefits, the registration and use of the trademark in local characters can also have commercial benefits. The public in South Korea will recognize your brand more easily if they are able to read and correctly pronounce the mark.
Registering your trademark in its original version, as well as local transliteration/translation, will provide a greater protection from any possible infringements.
The average time frame for the registration approval is 16 months, if no objections or oppositions arise.
No. The mark will be protected only in South Korea.
Yes. A power of attorney is needed to complete the process of trademark application.
Pre-filing use has minimal benefits since rights are primarily established through registration. However, it will help the applicant demonstrate distinctive qualities of the mark and win over objections on the basis of non-distinctiveness.
Yes. Third parties may possibly appeal for the cancellation of the trademark on the ground of non-use.
Any mark that can be replicated graphically, capable of making a good/service distinguishable from others, and can be represented visually, is accepted for registration.
- Names
- Slogans
- Words
- Touch
- Taste
- Sound
- Color
- Hologram
- Shape (three-dimensional)
- Device
- Smell
- Motion
The sequence of the trademark application is as follows:
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Examination – Several elements will be examined and the mark being applied for should comply in terms of:
- Formalities
- Classifications
- Clarity
- Descriptiveness
- Distinctiveness
- Deceptiveness
- Conflict with earlier registrations
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Publication – The following details will be posted online so that third parties will have the chance to file for an opposition case:
- Mark
- Name and address of applicant
- State/country of incorporation of applicant
- Citizenship of applicant
- Goods/services
- Date and number of application
- Information on priority claim
- Trademark representation
- Registration – The registration certificate will be issued once opposition cases are resolved and won.
These marks are against the trademark law of South Korea:
- Generic marks/terms
- Non-distinctive marks
- Surnames
- Name of a geographic location
- Use of names or flags or symbols of international organizations, states, regions and nations. Note. It can be registered if the international organization is famous
Yes. South Korea applies the Nice Classification system. For trademarks that will be used for multiple classes of goods/services, a single application would suffice but multiple applications are also permitted.
Yes. The home filing date can be accepted as the filing date in South Korea if:
- The home country is a Paris Convention signatory
- The home filing date does not exceed 6 months prior to the date of filing in South Korea
- If the international registration can be based in South Korea
To satisfy the requirement, the mark must be used within 3 years from the date it was registered or within 3 years preceding the date when the petition to cancel was filed. It must be used for commercial purposes and must occur in this jurisdiction.
A registered mark in South Korea is valid for 10 years which is counted from the date of its registration.
The renewal date is counted 10 years from the date the mark was registered.
Yes. It is legal to use an unregistered mark for any good or service.
Owners must register their trademarks in order to secure rights.
The web address of South Korea’s national trademark office is available at: http://www.kipo.go.kr/
It is not necessary for the applicants to use the mark or to intend to use it before applying for registration.
A trademark application can be challenged on the following grounds:
- Mark is misleading, disparaging, deceptive, function, not distinctive, descriptive, or generic
- Proprietary rights
- Conflict with famous marks
- Conflict with trade names
- Conflict with a personal name
- Conflict with a company name (applicable only if the company is well-known)
- Registration under a different name (agent or representative) instead of the mark’s proprietor
- Conflict with principles of morality
- Against public order
- Unauthorized use of national insignia and protected emblems
- Unauthorized use of protected armorial bearing, state emblems or flags
Anyone can contest a trademark registration.
Yes. The following grounds make it possible for a registration to be cancelled:
- Proprietary rights
- Descriptive, not distinctive, misleading, disparaging, deceptive, functional, or generic marks
- Conflict with famous a trade name
- Conflict with a famous personal name
- Use of geographical indication
- Conflict with morality or public order
Yes. Owners of a registered mark in this jurisdiction establish these rights:
- Exclusive right to use the mark
- Right to challenge later conflicting applications
- Right to appeal for the cancellation of a later conflicting registration
- Right to file an infringement case against third parties that use a confusingly similar mark
- Right to authorize and give license to third parties to use the mark
- Right to appeal for the confiscation of fake goods bearing the mark
- Right to receive payment from parties that infringed the mark
- Right to file an infringement case against third parties that use the transliterated version of the mark
- Right to object to applications that use the transliterated version of the mark
The opposition period starts on the date the application was published and ends two months after that date.
South Korea is a signatory of the Madrid Protocol.
No, it is not a requirement to present any filing that would set forth the owner’s use of the mark.
Renewals are made every 10 years after the expiration date of the registration.
The renewal date is counted 10 years from the date the mark was registered.
A power of attorney is necessary to renew a mark.
A 6-month grace period is available after the mark’s expiration date.