Hanbok and Soju Protected as 'Official Product Names' Overseas

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Six unique Korean product names, including Hanbok and Soju, are set to be registered as official product names in the NICE classification of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

On the 10th, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that at the recently held "32nd NICE International Classification Experts Meeting," it proposed adding 10 unique Korean names to the NICE international product names, of which six were approved.

The product names that passed the meeting are ▲Hanbok ▲Soju ▲Gochujang ▲Doenjang ▲Makgeolli ▲Gimbap. Following the meeting results, the WIPO Secretariat will disclose the results to member countries within this month, and after procedures such as objections from member countries, the final decision on the registration as official NICE product names will be made next month.

Previously, KIPO registered Kimchi (2005), Bulgogi (2015), and Bibimbap (2016) as official NICE product names. If the six product names including Hanbok are finally registered, Korea will be able to use a total of nine product names as official NICE product names.

The official NICE product names are internationally recognized product names used by 91 member countries (as of last month) under WIPO, and the NICE International Classification Experts Meeting annually adds, modifies, or deletes product names.

Once registered as official NICE product names, the likelihood of these names being registered as trademarks in other countries decreases, and even if registered, they can serve as key grounds for invalidation. Registration thus opens the way for Korea’s unique product names to be protected overseas.

As of January 1, the total number of product names registered as official NICE product names is 10,605.

Mok Seong-ho, Director of the Trademark and Design Examination Bureau at KIPO, said, “The consecutive registration of Korea’s unique product names as official NICE product names can be interpreted as a result reaffirming Korea’s elevated status through K-Culture and more.”

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