[Asia Economy Reporters Moon Jiwon, Jung Hyunjin] Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation (LX) has reported ㈜LG to the Fair Trade Commission for unfair trade practices over conflicts regarding the use of the ‘LX’ name. LG expressed regret and stated that they would wait for the Patent Office’s review results.
On the 14th, LX announced that it reported to the Fair Trade Commission, judging that the decision by the newly established holding company led by Advisor Koo Bon-jun, which separated from LG Group affiliates, to use the name LX constitutes an act of “interfering with another business operator’s business activities” as specified in Article 23, Paragraph 1 of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. In the report, LX emphasized, “The LX name is the English name used by Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation, a public institution under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, since 2012. For about 10 years, LX has been conducting cadastral surveying, spatial information, overseas projects, and more under the name LX.”
They continued, “In addition to the newly established holding company ㈜LX, ㈜LG has filed trademark applications for LX Hausys, LX Pantos, LX Global, LX MMA, LX Semicon, and others, exposing them in the media, causing confusion and misunderstanding among approximately one million citizens who use the corporation’s cadastral surveying and spatial information services annually.” LX pointed out, “㈜LG is damaging the brand that LX has built over many years, and furthermore, it is expected to cause disruptions in the national projects LX carries out and the cadastral and spatial information projects conducted overseas representing the country.”
LX, as a specialized land information institution, has specified its English name as LX in its articles of incorporation. Since 2012, it has filed trademark applications for LX Daehan Cadastral Corporation, LX Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation, LX News, LX Land Information Platform, and recently added LIBS, LXTV, LX Digital Twin, and LX Land Information Platform.
Earlier, on the 6th, LX President Kim Jeong-ryeol held a press conference at the Government Sejong Complex and said, “From an international perspective, LX Holdings is a holding company, so (the corporation) could be perceived as a subsidiary,” and added, “Since it is a newly starting company, it is questionable whether it is necessary to use the name LX.”
Regarding LX’s report to the Fair Trade Commission, LG stated, “There is no overlapping business activity that could interfere with each other’s business, so we are skeptical whether the Fair Trade Commission report is legally valid,” and expressed regret over expanding the issue in this direction. They added, “This matter is currently undergoing a review process for trademark registration at the Patent Office according to the law, and it is desirable to wait for the Patent Office’s review results and have dialogue between the representatives of both companies.”
The newly established holding company ㈜LX Holdings, centered on Advisor Koo Bon-jun, will officially launch on the 1st of next month, separated along with four subsidiaries: LG International, LG Hausys, Silicon Works, and LG MMA.
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