KIPO: "Korea-Japan Trademark Experts Meeting Resumes After 3 Years"

The Korea-Japan Trademark Experts Meeting was held via video conference.

On the 12th, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced that it held the "18th Korea-Japan Trademark Experts Meeting" via video conference the previous day to discuss cooperation and development directions in the trademark field between the two countries.

The meeting was conducted as a continuation of efforts to establish a cooperative system between government ministries of both countries and to promote cooperation in various fields, as proposed after the Korea-Japan summit.

This meeting, which had been held since 2004, was temporarily suspended after 2020. This year marks the first meeting after a three-year hiatus.

During the meeting, trademark experts from both countries discussed major policy directions related to trademarks, application trends, considerations for introducing coexistence consent systems, directions for trademark law amendments, and cooperation methods between Korea and Japan within the advanced five trademark offices consortium (Korea, United States, Japan, China, European Union).

In particular, both countries shared policy directions to shorten trademark examination processing times, such as the hiring of fixed-term assistant examiners (Japan) and the establishment of a dedicated team for prioritized examination of service marks frequently applied for by small business owners (Korea).

They also exchanged opinions on measures to keep pace with changing trade realities such as the expansion of online transactions and the emergence of virtual spaces, including measures to eradicate counterfeit goods in digital spaces (Japan) and examination guidelines for virtual goods (Korea).

Both countries decided to resume the exchange of geographical indication lists after three years. From 2011 to 2020, KIPO exchanged geographical indication lists with Japan annually and used them as reference materials for trademark examination, but the exchange was suspended along with the halt of the Trademark Experts Meeting.

Additionally, to continue cooperation in the trademark field, both countries agreed to hold a bilateral director-level meeting on trademarks hosted by Korea next month and to host next year’s Trademark Experts Meeting in Korea.

Gu Young-min, Director of the Trademark and Design Examination Bureau at KIPO, stated, “For over 20 years, Korea and Japan have maintained a cooperative relationship through the Trademark Experts Meeting and have made joint efforts to develop the trademark system. We will strive to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the trademark field at the upcoming Korea-Japan director-level bilateral meeting scheduled for next month.”

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