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Sep 28, 2015
Min-Kyoung Jee, Kim & Chang, South Korea
Alexandra Bélec, Kim & Chang, South Korea
First published and source Kim & Chang (www.ip.kimchang.com)

IPT Takes Weakly Distinctive Elements into Account in S...


Min-Kyoung Jee, Kim & Chang, South Korea, Alexandra Bélec, Kim & Chang, South Korea, First published and source Kim & Chang (www.ip.kimchang.com)When examining the similarity between two marks, Korean administrative bodies and occasionally Korean courts have a tendency to mechanically disregard the non-distinctive or weakly distinctive portions of the marks in order to concentrate their analysis on comparing the remaining distinctive portions. This tendency is quite strong at the Korean Intellection Property Office ("KIPO"), which rarely deviates from this practice.
A more flexible approach was displayed in a recent decision by the Intellectual Property Tribunal ("IPT") of KIPO, which may signal a change of attitude regarding this issue. In this particular case, the IPT was asked to review whether the registration for the mark Reg. No. 877006 should have been denied in view of the prior famous mark of W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. (makers of GORE-TEX® branded products) (W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. vs. Lee Gil Woon, invalidation action against Trademark Reg. No. 877006 - 2013dang2649 rendered on  read more