タグ: 韓国

Effective October 1, 2025, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has been elevated to full ministry status, and will now be known as the Ministry of Intellectual Property (MOIP) under the Prime Minister’s Office. … The elevation of KIPO to MOIP signifies a strategic reorganization, positioning the agency as the central authority for intellectual property policies. A key reform is the establishment of the “Intellectual Property Dispute Response Bureau,” upgraded from a division to a bureau-level entity. This bureau is tasked with providing timely and coordinated national responses to intellectual property disputes.

Trademark squatting cases involving Korean companies have surged in recent years. The number of suspicious overseas trademark filings monitored last year reached a record-high 9,249 cases, up 84 percent from the previous year. Korean shaved ice dessert chain Sulbing suffered a major setback in its attempt to expand into China after becoming entangled in a lengthy trademark battle. The company ultimately won a legal dispute over brand rights but failed to gain meaningful traction in the copycat-cornered Chinese market.