KIPO: "Shortened Trademark Opposition Period to Accelerate Rights Acquisition"

The opposition period following the publication of a trademark application will be shortened. This reduction in the opposition period is expected to accelerate the process for applicants to secure trademark rights.

On July 22, the Korean Intellectual Property Office announced that the Trademark Act would be amended and enforced to shorten the opposition period for trademark applications from two months to 30 days.

Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

Typically, trademark registration is completed through the application process, publication of the application, and then a registration decision. During the publication stage, a two-month opposition period was previously granted. As a result, the registration decision could only be made after two months had passed following publication.

Under the Trademark Act, the opposition system allows anyone to file an opposition within two months of the publication of a trademark application that has passed the examiner's review. The purpose of this system is to ensure that the examination process can be finalized with public participation.

However, there have been strong calls from the field to shorten the opposition period in order to secure rights more quickly. Despite the fact that the proportion of oppositions filed during the opposition period is as low as around 1%, it was considered unreasonable that the remaining 99% of trademark applications still had to wait the full two-month opposition period.

In response, the Korean Intellectual Property Office significantly shortened the opposition period following the publication of a trademark application through the amendment of the Trademark Act, enabling applicants to secure trademark rights more quickly.

Conversely, information about filed trademarks is disclosed immediately upon application, allowing third parties to submit their opinions on the filed trademark at any time through the information provision system. The office explained that the system also allows for an extension period (30 days) to supplement the grounds for opposition, ensuring that third parties have ample opportunity to submit their opinions on filed trademarks.

The amended Trademark Act applies to trademark applications whose publication date is on or after July 22, 2025.

Lee Chunmu, Director General of the Trademark and Design Examination Bureau at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, stated, "With the shortening of the opposition period, the timing of registration decisions for the majority of published trademarks will be advanced. The Korean Intellectual Property Office will continue to strive for a balanced trademark examination system that both ensures sufficient opportunities for public review and reduces examination processing times."