Korean Business/Service Marks Protection under the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act

Supreme Court Decision 2008Do5897 delivered on January 30, 2009
【Violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act】

Translation of Official Court Summary
The appearance of a particular singer and the unique actions of others are intangible and variable features close to an impression or image have little function as a fixed mark that differentiates a matter from another matter. If the particular appearance and action is to be regarded as a mark of a business and if the use of this is punished under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act’s purpose to protect one’s effort and investment in the mark of a business and achievement of making the mark well-known to the public from free riders that distort competitive order, therefore a particular singer’s appearance, unique action, etc, except the singer’s name shall not be a mark of business under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

For an article on how to protect your trade secrets in Korea: Strategies for Protecting your Trade Secrets in Korea.

Translations of Korean Court Entertainment Law Cases (Court Summaries)

_____
Sean Hayes is co-chair of the Korea Practice Team at IPG Legal. He is the only non-Korean to have worked as an attorney for the Korean court system (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a regular member of a Korean law faculty.

If you would like to schedule a call, please Schedule a Call with an Attorney.