There's only one Girls' Generation, court rules

/Courtesy of SM Entertainment

The name “Girls’ Generation” can only be used by the girl band.

The Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s decision Tuesday and ruled that the trademark right of Girls’ Generation belongs to SM Entertainment.

The management company registered the trademark when it introduced the band in 2007, to use the name on the band’s albums, sound sources and videos.

A business operator, identified as Kim, also registered the name “Girls’ Generation,” claiming he wanted to use it for clothes, toys and food products, 10 days later.

SM filed a complaint with the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board in December 2011 against Kim to invalidate the registration.

When the board found in favor of SM and made Kim’s registration invalid in August 2012, Kim filed a lawsuit against SM with the Patent Court of Korea. The Patent Court ruled partially in favor of Kim, saying consumers would not confuse Kim’s products, mostly clothes and toys, with the girl band.

But the Supreme Court overturned this decision because of the high level of brand awareness of the girl band. Since the group debuted in 2007, it has had a high profile and customers could misunderstand the relationship between Kim’s products and the band, the court said.