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EXCLUSIVE KG Mobility faces setback in securing right to use 'KGM' trademark
KG Mobility Chairman Kwak Jae-sun introduces the Torres EVX during the Seoul Mobility Show 2023 at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in this March 2023 photo. Courtesy of KG Mobility
By Park Jae-hyuk
Turkey rejects Korean carmaker’s trademark applications
KG Mobility is facing difficulties in obtaining the trademark rights for the three-letter acronym “KGM” at home and abroad after the Korean carmaker failed to do so previously for its full English name, according to intellectual property offices in Korea and other countries, Tuesday.
Last November, the company decided to use the acronym of its name as an alternative to its full name after the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) rejected its registration of “KG Mobility” two months earlier.
The rejection of the full name (KG Mobility) came as a Turkish trademark troll, Cihan Turan, had registered the name in the European Union in March last year. KIPO prioritized Turan’s applications based on the Paris Convention.
“Our use of ‘KGM’ in the global market will prevent the trademark dispute from affecting our exports,” a KG Mobility official said at the time.
However, the firm failed to register both “KGM” and “KG Mobility” trademarks in Turkey, one of its most important export markets.
The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office even refused the registration of “KGM,” because the Turkish government-run General Directorate of Highways, which is written as Karayollari Genel Mudurlugu in Turkish, had been already using the same acronym. The registration of “KG Mobility” had also been rejected in the country due to the trademark troll.
Even in Korea, the trademark for “KGM” is also under KIPO’s review, following an objection filed last year by KTM, an Austrian motorcycle manufacturer, which claims consumers are likely to be confused by the two similar acronyms.
The European firm is reportedly preparing to object to the “KGM” trademark in many other countries.
“If KIPO decides to side with KTM, all trademark applications and registrations filed by KG Mobility under the mark ‘KGM’ worldwide will be canceled in accordance with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) procedure,” a source familiar with this issue said.
KG Group renamed SsangYong Motor to KG Mobility in March of last year, after the chemical giant acquired the debt-ridden carmaker in 2022.
The company was reportedly asked by Cihan Turan to pay a significant amount of royalties after he registered “KG Mobility” in more than 30 countries and filed applications in Australia, Korea and Turkey. Earlier this year, Turan also filed an objection to KG Mobility’s trademark registration with the EU Intellectual Property Office.