Art. 7, Para. 1, Item 12 of the Korean Trademark Act blocks registration of imitation trademarks and the requirements are as follows;

 

1) Trademark of the prior-user is identical or similar to the imitation trademark

 

2) Trademark of the prior-user is already recognized as the trademark indicating the goods of the prior-user among customers inside or outside of the South Korea
(It is sufficient that the trademark is known only in the country of the prior-user, not necessarily in Korea.)

 

3) Imitation trademark which is filed for unjust purposes, such as obtaining unjust profits or inflicting harm on the prior-user;

If an imitation trademark satisfies all the requirements above, registration will be rejected by an opposition (before registration) or be invalidated by an invalidation trial (after registration).