KGC Insamgongsa Receives Color Trademark Registration Decision from KIPO... "First Domestic Company"

Image of the color trademark acquired by KGC Ginseng Corporation. Photo by KGC Ginseng Corporation

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] KGC Ginseng Corporation announced on the 9th that it recently received a decision from the Korean Intellectual Property Office to register a 'color trademark' for the color combinations applied to major products of CheongKwanJang.

Introduced in 2007, a 'color trademark' is classified as a mark identified by color, either a trademark combining color with symbols, letters, or shapes, or a trademark consisting solely of color. The trademark acquired by KGC Ginseng Corporation falls into the latter category, a trademark made up solely of color. To register a color trademark, the product's distinctiveness recognized by the public must be acknowledged. Consumers must be able to recognize the brand as that specific brand, not another, just by seeing the color.

KGC Ginseng Corporation made efforts for over three years based on product sales, revenue, and brand awareness to have this distinctiveness recognized, and last month received the color trademark registration certificate from the Korean Intellectual Property Office. This is the first case of a domestic company acquiring a sole color trademark following the multinational jelly brand 'Haribo.' The trademark obtained this time corresponds to Class 2 (Class 5? Red ginseng health functional foods) and Class 3 (Class 29? Processed red ginseng).

Lee Sang-won, Head of Strategy at KGC Ginseng Corporation, said, "Following the recognition of a well-known trademark in China in 2020, securing the first sole color trademark for a domestic company further acknowledges the value of the CheongKwanJang brand," adding, "We will continue to do our best to globalize Korean ginseng and promote the excellence of the CheongKwanJang brand."