The number of trademark applications continues to increase in Korea, with the prospect of more than doubling the number 10 years ago. The number of trademark applications filed at the Korean Intellectual Property Office in the first half of 2021 was 177,804, exceeding the annual total of 172,958 in 2011.

The number of trademark applications in the U.S., China and Europe is also on the rise, and especially, in the U.S., the number in the first half of this year increased by 56.5 percent from the same period of last year. The USPTO announced that this sharp increase in trademark applications was due to Chinese companies (taking up 21.9 percent of all U.S. trademark applications in the first half of this year). Unlike in the U.S., however, the increase of trademark applications in Korea is driven by Korean individuals.

In fact, the increase of trademark applications in Korea is mainly due to the increase of applications field by individuals and new companies. The number of trademark applications filed by Korean individuals reached 86,000 in 2018, 97,000 in 2019, and 117,000 in 2020. In addition, the number of Korean trademark applications filed by new applicants is also increasing. In 2020, the number of new applicants (both individuals and corporations) in Korea increased by 16.6% year-on-year, and of that, those filed by new individual applicants increased by 31.8% year-on-year.

These increases in the number of applications and the number of new applicants are attributable to the increased awareness of the trademark system among the Korean public. According to a survey conducted by the Korean Intellectual Property Office, 50.8 percent of respondents answered that “increased awareness of the importance of trademark rights” made them file trademark applications.

In the meantime, trademark applications are most frequently filed during the stage of product development, or after registration of business license. The survey shows that 30.3 percent of respondents answered that they would make trademark applications during the developments of products, while 24.4 percent of respondents answered that they would make trademark applications before product release. Only 14.3 percent of respondents answered that they would make trademark applications after product release. This is because applicants tend to secure protection for the trademark used in their products in a pre-emptive manner. On the other hand, 36.2 percent of respondents answered that they would attempt to obtain registrations with regard to services after registration of business licenses, while 16.6 percent of respondents answered that they would apply for trademarks at the same time that the business licenses are registered. Only 13.3 percent of respondents answered that they would apply for trademarks before the company name was decided. In relation to services, the tendency to obtain exclusive rights for their trademarks at an early stage was relatively less noticeable.

In the meantime, 71.2 percent of the respondents answered that they preferred to use the trademarks immediately after the marks were filed, indicating that prompt examination by the authority was necessary. However, due to the increase in trademark applications, the examination process is being delayed, and the Korean Intellectual Property Office appears to be faced with a challenge to shorten the examination processing period.