Court Rules "No 'Change' Allowed Even If Romanized Name Differs on Passport and Patent Application"

Civil Petitioner Using 'GI' for 'Gi' in Patent Application but 'KI' in Passport Name Letters

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The court ruled that the passport name cannot be changed to match the Romanized name used in overseas patent applications.

On the 9th, according to the court, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 6 (Presiding Judge Lee Jooyoung) ruled against Mr. A in a lawsuit he filed against the Minister of Foreign Affairs to cancel the refusal to change the Romanized name on his passport.

Previously, since 2012, Mr. A had used the Romanized spelling 'GI' for the last syllable '기' of his name when filing multiple overseas patents. The problem arose when some Middle Eastern countries refused to accept patent applications and registrations under Mr. A's name spelled with 'GI'. The issue was that Mr. A's Romanized name on the passport was spelled with 'KI' for '기'.

Mr. A requested to change the Romanization on his passport for this reason, but when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused, he filed an administrative lawsuit.

Article 3-2, Paragraph 1 of the former Passport Act Enforcement Decree limits the reasons for changing the Romanized name on a passport to cases such as "long-term use of a Romanized name different from that on the passport abroad for employment or study purposes (Item 2)" or "when the Minister of Foreign Affairs recognizes it as specially necessary considering humanitarian reasons (Item 9)."

The court ruled in favor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating, "The reasons claimed by the plaintiff alone are difficult to be considered as grounds for change." The court added, "The plaintiff mostly resides domestically and has not used a Romanized name different from that on the passport abroad for employment or study purposes for a long time, nor has he formed living or legal relationships based on it. This application is merely for smoother business operations and appears to be an economic reason, which does not qualify as a humanitarian reason."

Furthermore, "It seems that the plaintiff can sufficiently change the name on previously filed overseas patents through the name change procedures of the respective countries," the court elaborated.

The court also emphasized the authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating, "Changes to the Romanized name on a passport are possible only in a limited manner according to passport laws, and the defendant has considerable discretion within the possible meanings of the (law) text." "If changes to the Romanized name were broadly allowed, it would be difficult to screen entry and exit and manage the stay status of our nationals abroad," adding, "If this phenomenon accumulates, the reliability of passports would decline, making visa issuance and immigration screening more complicated."

Since Mr. A did not appeal, this ruling became final.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.