In Korea, the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act (“Unfair Competition Act”) defines the types of activities that are “acts of unfair competition”.

In particular, under the revised Unfair Competition Act, effective from January 31, 2014, the following 10th unfair competitive act is added to the revised Act.

 

1) An act of causing confusion with another person's goods by using a sign that is identical or similar to another person's name, trade name, trademark, container or package of goods or any other sign, which is widely known in South Korea as an indication of goods, or by selling, distributing, importing or exporting goods with such signs;

 

2) An act of causing confusion with another person's commercial facilities or activities by using a sign that is identical or similar to another person's name, trade name, emblem or any other sign, which is widely known in the South Korea as an indication of commerce;

 

3) An act of giving damage to distinctiveness or reputation attached to another person's sign by using the sign that is identical or similar to another person's name, trade name, trademark, container or package of goods or any other sign, which is widely known in the South Korea as an indication of goods or commerce, or by selling, distributing, importing or exporting goods with such signs, without due cause as prescribed by Presidential Decree;

 

4) An act of causing confusion about the source of origin by falsely marking the source of origin on goods, in an advertisement or on the trade documents in communications, or by selling, distributing, importing or exporting goods falsely marked with the source of origin;

 

5) An act of making a mark on goods, advertisements, trade documents in communications that would mislead the public into believing that the place of production, manufacture or processing is different from the actual place of production, manufacture or processing, or selling, distributing, importing or exporting goods marked with such mark;

 

6) An act of falsely assuming another person's goods, or an act of advertising any goods in any manner of leading the public to misunderstand their quality, content, manufacturing process, usage, or quantity, or selling, distributing, importing or exporting goods using such method or mark;

 

7) An act of using a trademark that is identical or similar to a trademark registered in any countries which have joined the Paris Convention, World Trade Organization or Trademark Law Treaty and is used by a person who was an agent or a representative of the owner of the trademark registered as stated above within recent one year, or an act of selling, distributing, exporting, or importing goods with such trademark.

 

8) An act of registering, holding, transferring or using a domain name identical or similar to another person's name, trade name, trademark or any other mark, which is widely recognized in South Korea, by an unlawful holder for any of the following purposes:

a. The purpose of selling or renting a mark, including a trademark, to an lawful holder or a third party;

b. The purpose of preventing a lawful holder from registering or using a domain name;

c. Other purpose of obtaining any commercial profits;

 

9) An act of transferring, renting, exhibiting, importing or exporting goods which shape has been copied from the goods manufactured by any other person: Provided, either of the following acts shall be excluded herefrom:

a. An act of transferring, renting, exhibiting, importing or exporting goods which shape has been manufactured by counterfeiting the shape of the other goods for which three years elapse from the date on which the other goods was manufactured;

b. An act of transferring, renting, exhibiting, importing or exporting goods which shape can be manufactured from the common shape of goods in the field of the goods manufactured by any other person;

 

10) An act of infringing a person’s right or profit, which was the result of considerable effort and investment, without authorization, through a method that contravenes fair commercial trade practice or the competitive order