Practical guides for foreign companies and individuals protecting their brands in South Korea.
How foreign brand owners can fight trademark squatting in South Korea — monitoring, third-party observations, opposition, invalidation, non-use cancellation, and how to prevent it.
Read the guide →Comparing a Madrid Protocol designation of Korea with a direct national trademark application at MOIP — goods descriptions, office actions, independence, certificates and real total cost.
Read the guide →How to draft the list of goods and services for a trademark application in South Korea — NICE classes, specific wording, similar-group codes and the 10-item rule.
Read the guide →Since 2024, Korea allows a similar trademark to be registered with the written consent of the earlier mark's owner. How foreign companies can use coexistence agreements in Korean filings — and the limits.
Read the guide →Korea now refuses only the problematic goods and offers re-examination after a refusal. Why amending or deleting goods in response to the office action is still usually the better strategy.
Read the guide →The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has become the Ministry of Intellectual Property (MOIP). What changed, what did not, and how to refer to the office in documents and contracts.
Read the guide →Korean distributors sometimes register the foreign brand they sell. Why this leads to disputes later, why the brand owner should file in its own name, and how to get the mark assigned back while the relationship is good.
Read the guide →How Korea reads and compares trademarks written in Chinese characters (Hanja), why Korean pronunciation matters, and how to file so that your brand is protected in the form Korean consumers will use.
Read the guide →Lack of distinctiveness is one of the most common grounds for refusal in Korea, and MOIP tends to apply it broadly. What triggers it, why it is hard to overcome, and the arguments and evidence that do work.
Read the guide →When MOIP refuses your Korean trademark because of an earlier similar mark — deleting goods, waiting, consent, non-use cancellation, negotiation and argument, and how to choose.
Read the guide →Korea does not check use at filing, so many registered marks are never used. How non-use cancellation works, why it succeeds in most cases, and why it is worth considering when an earlier mark blocks an important application.
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