New Trademark Procedures in Korea – Essential Considerations for Businesses
In October 2023, South Korea enacted a new trademark law aimed at introducing greater flexibility to its stringent trademark registration process, which historically mandated complete uniqueness for later-filed marks compared to existing marks. The existing law in Korea dictated that a later-filed mark, resembling a senior mark already registered with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), would face rejection. This necessitated the implementation of the “assign back” system. Under the “assign back” system, the rejected later-filed-similar mark, referred to as [...]