The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced on the 4th that it will hold the "9th Excellent Korean Language Trademark Selection Contest" from the 5th to the 23rd.
The contest has been held annually since 2016, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Institute of the Korean Language, to encourage the application and use of trademarks in the Korean language.
The contest is conducted by submitting trademarks created in Korean through the KIPO website. Anyone can participate, and trademarks registered by oneself or others can be submitted (recommended).
However, only Korean language trademarks currently validly registered as of this month are eligible for submission and recommendation. Trademarks that imitate others, trademarks held by suspected malicious trademark squatters, trademarks involved in disputes such as trials or lawsuits, trademarks not currently in use, and trademarks that have already won awards in similar contests are excluded.
The submission forms and email addresses required for contest entry can be found in the news and notices section on the KIPO website.
KIPO plans to select excellent trademarks by combining the evaluation results based on criteria such as the normativity and uniqueness of the Korean language by Korean language experts recommended by the National Institute of the Korean Language, and the online voting results of patent customers and examiners.
Excellent trademarks will be selected as ▲ Beautiful Trademark (1 award from the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism) ▲ Graceful Trademark (1 award from the Commissioner of KIPO) ▲ Friendly Trademark (5 awards from the Director of the National Institute of the Korean Language), and the awards ceremony is scheduled to be held around Hangul Day in October.
Nam Young-taek, Acting Director of the Trademark Design Examination Bureau at KIPO, said, "Well-made Korean language trademarks can express the characteristics of products well and also give consumers a friendly feeling," adding, "We hope this event will help widely promote beautiful Korean language trademarks around us."
Meanwhile, last year's contest awarded trademarks such as ‘Nadeulgage’ (Beautiful Trademark), ‘Areumdawoon Gage’ (Graceful Trademark), and ‘Achim Haetsal’ (Friendly Trademark).
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