Overview of Korean Trademarks

1. South Korea is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the World Intellectual Property Organization, and a party to the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the Madrid Protocol.

2. Product trademarks, certification trademarks, volume trademarks, three-dimensional trademarks, and color trademarks can all be registered in Korea. The Korean trademark law belongs to the civil law system and adopts the principle of registration based on prior application.

Required documents for Korean trademark application

1. Apply as a legal entity, with one copy of the Business License or valid registration certificate stamped with the official seal; Apply as a natural person with one copy of personal identification document attached;

2. The applicant's detailed information (in both Chinese and English), including name or title, nature, nationality, as well as detailed address, postal code, and contact information;

3. Trademark design and goods or services;

4. Power of Attorney signed by the applicant

5. If priority is requested, a priority proof document must be submitted within 3 months from the date of application.

Korean Trademark Application Registration

1. Applicant eligibility: Anyone who uses or intends to use a trademark in Korea can apply for registration; Foreigners or companies that do not have a residence or business address in South Korea can apply for trademark registration as long as their country of residence is a party to relevant agreements or treaties with South Korea or to relevant international conventions with South Korea.

2. Application process (smooth progress):

(1) Formal examination: the legality examination of the submitted application documents, trademark designs, power of attorney and other documents after the application is submitted; Those who meet the requirements will be granted the application date and application number.

(2) Substantive examination: Review whether the trademark has registrability, such as distinctiveness, in accordance with the law. If the examiner considers that the trademark is not suitable for registration, a rejection notice shall be issued. The applicant can provide a response within the specified time. The applicant can also apply for a delay in responding.

(3) Announcement: After the trademark is reviewed, the applicant will be informed that the trademark application has been accepted and published in the trademark announcement. Anyone can raise objections within the 2-month announcement period, stating their reasons and submitting relevant evidence.

(4) Registration approval: Trademarks that have been ruled to be eligible for registration after opposition, or trademarks that have been published without opposition, will be approved for registration and a registration certificate will be issued. The entire smooth application process (if there are no rejections, objections, etc.) will take approximately 18-24 months.

3. Validity period: 10 years from the date of approval of registration. If the registration needs to continue to be used after the expiration of the registration validity period, an application for renewal registration should be made 12 months before the expiration of the registration validity period. Each renewal registration is valid for 10 years; A six-month grace period, but additional fees must be paid.

Characteristics of the Korean Trademark System:

1. Partial priority system; That is to say, if the scope of goods specified in the application claiming priority exceeds the scope of goods specified in the previous application, the Korean Trademark Office will reject all such applications in the past. After the revision of the trademark examination standards, the Trademark Office will partially reject goods that exceed the scope of goods specified in the application based on item by item examination;

2. For foreign trademark applications that include English, Chinese, and Japanese, the similarity in pronunciation and meaning of the words outside the trademark will be included in the scope of examination;

3. Accelerate the processing time of opposition cases. In the past, the examination time for opposition cases by the Korean Trademark Office was generally ten months. After the revision of the new examination criteria, the Korean Trademark Office hopes to make an opposition decision within three to four months after the opposition application is filed.