It happens more often than brand owners expect: a Korean distributor, importer or agent registers the foreign brand it sells in its own name. Sometimes it is bad faith. Often it is not — the distributor wanted to protect the brand in Korea, register on Korean marketplaces, or stop counterfeits, and the brand owner had not filed yet.
Either way, it creates a problem for later.
Why it leads to disputes
While the relationship is good, nobody notices. The problems start when things change:
- You want to change distributors or sell directly. The trademark owner in Korea is your former distributor, not you. Your new distributor — or your own Korean subsidiary — may be infringing the distributor's registration.
- Marketplaces and customs follow the register. Korean online platforms and customs rely on the registered owner. Your former distributor can use the registration against your products.
- Negotiations become expensive. A distributor who has lost the business has little reason to cooperate, and may ask for payment to assign the mark.
Korean law does provide remedies — for example, invalidation of a mark filed by an agent or representative without the owner's consent, or by someone who knew of the mark through a business relationship. But these actions take time, require evidence, and come at exactly the moment you need to be selling in Korea.
Best practice: the brand owner files
- File the Korean application in the brand owner's own name, ideally before appointing a Korean distributor or launching in Korea.
- If a distributor needs rights to use the mark or to register on marketplaces, grant them a license — not ownership.
- Include in every distribution agreement a clause that all trademark rights in Korea belong to the brand owner, that the distributor will not file the brand (or similar marks, including Hangul versions) in its own name, and that any such filing will be assigned to the brand owner on request.
If your distributor already owns the Korean registration
Get it assigned to you while the relationship is good. This is by far the cheapest and fastest solution.
- Check the Korean register to confirm exactly which marks (including Hangul and logo versions) and which goods the distributor owns.
- Agree on an assignment to the brand owner. If the distributor needs to keep using the mark, combine the assignment with a license back to the distributor for the term of the distribution agreement.
- Record the assignment with MOIP. A trademark assignment in Korea takes effect only once it is recorded in the register, so signing the assignment document is not the last step.
- Update the distribution agreement so that the issue cannot recur.
Do not wait until the relationship ends. An assignment that takes a few weeks with a cooperative partner can take years — and an invalidation action — with an uncooperative one.
How we help
We check the Korean register, draft assignment and license documents, record the assignment with MOIP, and file new applications in the brand owner's name. Email help@dusonlaw.com with your brand and your distributor's name.
This guide is general information, not legal advice.