By Bahk Eun-ji
Ryu Gwang-yeon, CEO of Dukkubisesang, a real estate transaction startup, recently bumped into an unexpected difficulty when he sought to file a trademark application.
“Dukkubi” means toad in Korean and also symbolizes a new house in Korea, and “sesang” means the world.
When Ryu applied to trademark the company name, Dukkubi, he realized the word was already registered by Hite Jinro, the domestic alcoholic beverage company.
Ryu said he felt pressure to spend 10 million won to file a lawsuit against the conglomerate, but he couldn’t give up the company’s name, Dukkubi.
The patent tribunal decided to cancel the Hite Jinro’s trademark of Dukkubi last month, because the Dukkubisesang is viewed as unrelated to the beverage business.
As such, trademark disputes are increasing, as startups have mushroomed in various business sectors.
The disputes take place even among startups in similar business fields, not just between conglomerates and small businesses.
Zigbang and Dabang are startups that provide similar online real estate transaction services.
Both are apps to help users find apartments and other types of housing units. The two companies are required to register themselves in two sectors in terms of goods classifications ― real-estate business and electronic communications.
Currently, Zigbang registered in the electronic communication section, and Dabang in the real-estate section, after they went through minor legal disputes over the names.
Korean traditional tea house Oga.da won in a trademark dispute against AmorePacific, the nation’s leading cosmetic company last year. Oga.da was a startup company, established in 2009, and it only registered the trademark in the traditional tea sector. Meanwhile, AmorePacific made trademark registration in the name of the Ogada in 2011 in various tea categories including ginseng, fruit, jujubes, and other health functional foods, so that the Oga.da couldn’t use the name.
Oga.da opened overseas shops. It opened first overseas shop in Tokyo in 2012 and second store in Yokohama in 2013. As the business got bigger, it tried to sell various Korean traditional tea products, and it realized AmorePacific already owned the trademark.
The patent tribunal decided to cancel the AmorePacific’s trademark of Ogada last year, and Oga.da was allowed use the name to provide products.
The court said the AmorePacific’s registration didn’t look like a coincidence, and it seemed the company tried to take unfair advantage by using the name at that time.
Although Oga.da is a second mover, the company was more active to improve its brand awareness, the court said.
Experts said the legal dispute of trademark rights is mainly caused by a lack of understanding about intellectual property.
“So far, many startup owners don’t pay much attention to the intellectual properties so they can’t be prepared, and this left much room for legal disputes,” said Jang Dong-kuy, an attorney at Y.P. Lee, Mock and Partners.
Jang said anyone who set up business should do research about the intellectual properties related to their business, but many people just skip doing so.
“We always recommend business owners to search when they try to register some name of app or services, if anyone already owns the name, so that they can avoid unnecessary legal disputes,” Jang said.