Korean Trademarks Shorter-Lived Than Foreign Brands

Out of the trademarks registered in the country, local-origin ones are more short-lived than those from foreign countries.

The Korean Industrial Property Office (KIPO) announced Wednesday that its survey of the duration of the total 403,671 trademarks registered in the country, made up of 271,127 Korean trademarks and 132,544 foreign ones, showed that local trademarks lasting longer than 20 years amounted to just 4,297 for local ones. According to KIPO, this is less than a half the 10,245 foreign trademarks lasting for longer than 20 years.

Korean trademarks must be renewed every 10 years, and with 16.5% of the foreign trademarks renewing their registration prior to their expiration, as at the end of last month, in contrast to just a 10.2% renewal level among local ones, the trend of short-lived Korean trademarks appears likely to continue in the future. KIPO said that the "Saempyo" trademark for soy sauce is the longest surviving Korean trademark, registered in May 1954, followed closely by "Jinro," registered in September 1954 for soju, a Korean traditional liquor, and "Mugoonghwa" flour, registered in October 1954.