News & Infomation
Newsletters
February 2024
February 2024Q & A on Letter of Consent System in Korea
The Letter of Consent system, which will take effect on May 1, 2024, is expected to cover a wide range of prior marks. The outline of the Letter of Consent system was confirmed at the briefing session held by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on January 25, 2024.
1) What is the scope of trademarks covered by the Letter of Consent?
⇒ Similar trademarks are subject to the Letter of Consent. Trademarks that are not strictly the same are considered as similar trademarks to which the Letter of Consent is applicable. In other words, trademarks combined with a figure or a descriptive mark, even if the characters are identical, can be registered through the Letter of Consent.
2) When shall we submit the Letter of Consent?
⇒ You may submit the Letter of Consent by the deadline for responding to an office action. If you have already received a final refusal, you can file an appeal against the final refusal, negotiate with the owner of a prior mark, and submit the Letter of Consent to the KIPO before the examination of appeal is concluded. Your trademark can be registered through the Letter of Consent unless a final refusal on your mark has been finalized as of May 1, 2024.
3) What if you get consent of coexistence only for some of the goods?
⇒ You can obtain registration only for the goods specified in the Letter of Consent. For the goods that failed to obtain the coexistence agreement, a decision of partial refusal will be rendered. For your information, the partial refusal system applies to applications filed on or after February 4, 2023, and the trademarks filed before this date will be refused as a whole for all goods unless all refusal grounds are resolved.
4) What should be included in the Letter of Consent?
⇒ Only the essentials of the coexistence agreement are required to be included. In other words, the Letter of Consent will be accepted if the application/registration numbers of the junior and senior marks, the name and address of each right holder, and the scope of the goods (all or part) of the coexistence agreement are specified. Meanwhile, the duration of the coexistence agreement cannot be arbitrarily limited.
5) How can we check if a trademark has been granted through the Letter of Consent?
⇒ The Trademark Gazette of the junior mark and the Register of the senior mark will indicate the fact of coexistence agreement between the junior and senior marks.
If you want to unsubscribe, please click [here].
| ▲ Previous | November 2023 - “Letter of Consent” can be used for the current Korean trademark application. |
|---|