What are the requirements for trademark registration?

Because the most important function of a trademark is to distinguish one party's goods from another's, in order to be registered as a trademark it must first possess distinctiveness.

Under the Trademark Act, distinctiveness means enabling traders and general consumers to recognize whose goods the goods bearing the trademark are. In general, it is advisable to consider factors such as being easy to call, easy to remember, memorable over a long period, easy to distinguish from other trademarks, and useful for advertising and promotion.

A trademark may also consist of signs, characters, figures, three-dimensional shapes, or a combination thereof, as well as any of these combined with colors. Accordingly, you may file characters and a logo as separate trademarks, or you may combine characters and a logo and file them as a single trademark.

Pursuant to Article 6, Paragraph 1 of the Trademark Act, a trademark cannot be registered in the following cases.

1. a. A trademark consisting solely of a mark indicating, in a common way, the common name of the goods
   e.g., the trademark "CAR" for the designated goods "automobiles," the trademark "jeans" for the designated goods "clothing," etc.
2. b. A trademark customarily used in connection with the goods
   e.g., the trademark "Jeongjong" for the designated goods "cheongju (refined rice wine)," the trademark "Kkang" for the designated goods "snacks," etc.
3. c. A trademark consisting solely of a mark indicating, in a common way, the place of origin, quality, raw materials, efficacy, use, quantity, shape (including the shape of packaging), price, production method, processing method, method of use, or time of the goods
   e.g., the trademark "Geumsan" for the designated goods "ginseng," the trademark "quality assurance" for all goods, the trademark "bean" for the designated goods "tofu," etc.
4. d. A trademark consisting solely of a conspicuous geographical name, an abbreviation thereof, or a map
   e.g., the names of cities, counties, and districts; New York; Jongno Academy; Jangchung-dong Wang Jokbal, etc.
5. e. A trademark consisting solely of a mark indicating, in a common way, a common surname or name
   e.g., Yun's Farm House, trading company, store, industrial works, chairman, president, etc.
6. f. A trademark consisting solely of a simple and common mark
   e.g.,
   • In the case of a character mark, a mark composed of a single Hangul character or Chinese character, or two or fewer other foreign characters
   • A combination of two numerals, or a combination of one foreign character and one numeral
   • Commonly used marks such as circles, triangles, squares, rhombuses, symbols, or the swastika (卍), the triple Taegeuk, etc.
   • Common marks such as spheres, cubes, rectangular prisms, cylinders, triangular prisms, etc.
7. g. In addition to items 1 through 6, a trademark by which consumers cannot identify whose business the goods are connected with
   e.g., http://, www, @, "CYBER" for the telecommunications business, "NEWS" for the data provision business, etc.