FAQs Categories: South Korea

While use is not required for trademark registration, a trademark in South Korea may be canceled by a third party through a trial on the basis of non-use it there has been no use for more than 3 years and if there have been no legitimate reasons excusing non-use.

A trademark opposition in South Korea may be filed by an interested party within 2 months from the date of its publication.

A trademark in South Korea is valid for 10 years from the registration date (not from the application date like in many other countries). A trademark may be renewed an unlimited number of times every ten years. A renewal application should be filed within 1 year before the expiration date. This term may be extended by a 6-month grace period after the renewal due date.

We need the following information in order to prepare a trademark application in South Korea.

• Name and address of the applicant. In the case of a company, the particulars of the company (name and address) and the name and position of the director/representative signing the POA.
• Trademark name or logo (in JPEG file format)
• The list of goods and services, based on the International Nice Classification

South Korean Trademark Office is called Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO).

A power of attorney is necessary for trademark filing. We will provide a power of attorney for you. It is not necessary to legalize or make an apostille of the POA and a simple PDF and scanned copy will be sufficient.