Increase in Trademark Applications for 'Personal Hygiene Products' Such as Masks to Prevent Infectious Diseases

Trends in Trademark Applications Related to Personal Hygiene by Year. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office.

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The number of trademark applications related to personal hygiene products for infectious disease prevention, such as masks and hand sanitizers, is rapidly increasing.

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office on the 6th, a total of 6,710 trademark applications were filed last year designating these personal hygiene products. Compared to five years ago (4,143 cases in 2014), this represents an increase of 2,567 cases, or 62% in percentage terms.

In particular, since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) began in Korea last February, the increase in patent applications related to personal hygiene products has accelerated. After recording 950 applications in February (506 in the previous month), the number rose to 1,418 in March, with a monthly increase approaching 500 cases.

Among these, trademark applications designating masks as the product increased about 2.6 times from 304 cases in February-March 2019 to 789 cases in February-March this year.

The increase in trademark applications related to personal hygiene is analyzed to be directly influenced by the rise in various household wastes due to industrialization and the emergence of social issues such as yellow dust and fine dust.

For example, the first trademark application designating a yellow dust prevention mask as a product was filed in October 2004, and the first trademark application designating a fine dust mask was filed in June 2016, coinciding with the period when fine dust became a social issue, supporting this analysis.

Over the past five years, 26,969 trademark applications related to personal hygiene have been filed. In terms of applicants by economic entity, corporations accounted for 16,577 cases (61%), and individuals accounted for 7,602 cases (28%).

Moon Sam-seop, Director of the Trademark Design Examination Bureau at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, "Interest in personal health and safety has increased due to yellow dust, fine dust, and other factors, and with infectious diseases such as COVID-19 periodically spreading, trademark applications related to personal hygiene are steadily increasing. This trend is expected to continue for the time being."