A court ruling has been made to cancel the registration of the geographical indication collective mark (hereinafter referred to as the collective mark) for ‘Gwangcheon Gim’ from Chungnam.
Gwangcheon Gim is a specialty product of Gwangcheon-eup, Hongseong-gun, Chungnam, and its collective mark registration was completed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office in 2014. However, recently, a company from another region filed a lawsuit to cancel the registration, and the court accepted it, putting the registration at risk of cancellation.
According to the Patent Court on the 14th, the 4-2 Division of the Patent Court recently ruled in favor of the plaintiff, a gim manufacturer based in Chungbuk, in a lawsuit filed against the Gwangcheon Gim Cooperative Corporation (hereinafter Gwangcheon Gim Cooperative) to cancel the collective mark registration.
A collective mark is a system that allows products to be explicitly identified as originating from a specific region when the particular quality, reputation, or characteristics of the goods essentially derive from the geographical origin of that region.
Registered collective marks have legal effects that restrict the use of the mark. The purpose is to allow consumers to distinguish products produced in other regions and to expect the quality of products bearing the registered mark.
In the case of Gwangcheon Gim, the collective mark registration has restricted the use by other regions or companies (other than the Gwangcheon Gim Cooperative and its members).
However, some members of the Gwangcheon Gim Cooperative used the ‘Gwangcheon Gim’ mark, which should have been used only for seasoned gim, on other products such as gim jaban (seasoned shredded gim), gim powder, and gimbap gim, and the cooperative failed to properly supervise this, providing grounds for the cancellation of the geographical indication collective mark registration.
The court stated, “Although members used the ‘Gwangcheon Gim’ mark on items other than the designated products, causing consumer misunderstanding and confusion about quality, the Gwangcheon Gim Cooperative did not regularly inspect the actual use of the collective registered trademark.”
It also pointed out that some members violated the articles of association by using foreign sun-dried salt and sesame oil in the production process, causing consumers to be misled about the quality.
The court emphasized, “A collective mark is a trademark right held by the group, and members can use it. More stringent management is necessary to ensure the collective mark is used properly.”
Meanwhile, if the Gwangcheon Gim Cooperative disagrees with the first trial ruling, it can file an appeal to the Supreme Court.
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