South Korea's trademark system adopts ˇ§first-to-file, first-to-registerˇ¨ rule. In this regard, it is important to register your mark with Korean Intellectual Property Office before you enter the Korean market.

The process takes approximately one year from the date of filing.

Details Required

To proceed the trademark application for registration in South Korea, please furnish us with the following information:

• A good legible copy of the mark emailed to us in .jpg file format
• Detailed list of goods and/or services classified in accordance to the International Classification of goods and services (9th edition)
• Applicant's name, address and nationality
• A copy of applicant's Identification document. (Corporation: Business Registration Certificate; Individual: Identity Card or passport)
• A certified copy of the priority application if priority is to be claimed.
• (General) Power of Attorney simply signed by the applicant. No legalization or notarization is required.

Search

Prior to the filing of a trademark application, a trademark search is highly recommended to be conducted in order to judge the registrability of the trademark by obtaining information on any marks that may interfere with the registration thereof.

Procedure

When we have received your application, we will issue a confirmation letter which summarizes the details and specification of the application for your final checking. Please confirm the application by signing on the letter and return to us by fax or email. The application will be filed within 5 working days of receiving the signed confirmation letter, and we will report the filing with a copy of the official filing receipt.

There are 4 stages in the process of examining an application for registration:

• Substantive Examination
• Publication of Application
• Opposition to Trademark Registration
• Registration

If the application is procedurally in order and does not face any objections and opposition in the 30 days opposition period, the application will be accepted for registration in approximately one year of his application.

However, if the application cannot pass the substantive examination and is rejected by the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the time required for the application in such situation will be difficult to estimate. Otherwise, you may abandon the pending application at no extra-cost.

Validity period of registration

Upon registration, a trademark will last for a period of 10 year and can be renewed indefinitely for successive periods of 10 years.

Convention Priority

If you have a corresponding application filed earlier in a Paris Convention country or a World Trade Organization member country, you may claim priority from this first-filed application, provided the Korea registration is filed within six months from the date of the first filing. If convention priority is claimed, basic filing particulars of priority application (including the application number, the filing date, and the country priority application was filed) on which a claim of priority is based, must be specified in a Korean application. A convention trademark/service mark application must be filed in Korea within the 6 months of the date that the basic foreign application has field. A certified copy of the basic application may be submitted to the KIPO up to 3 months after the Korean application is filed.

Please download application form here.

If you require more information, please contact us at:

Telephone	: (852) 2384 2288
Fax	: (852) 3011 3245
Email	: info@ebrand.com.hk
Address	: Unit 1501, Jubilee Centre, 46 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.