Korean trademark term

The Korean trademark term is 10 years from the date of establishment registration under Article 82(1) (Article 83(1)). Korea trademark renewal is made by a renewal application, and the term can be renewed every 10 years (Article 83(2)).

Renewal filing periods

The renewal application is filed within 1 year before the term expires (Article 84(2)). A trademark right holder who did not file in that period may file within 6 months after the term ends (Article 84(2)).

What the renewal application states

The application states the details of the trademark right holder, the details of the agent if there is an agent, the registration number of the registered trademark, and the designated goods and services and the class of goods (Article 84(1)). Other matters needed for a renewal application are set by Ordinance of the Prime Minister (Article 84(4)).

Cases where the right is extinguished after 5 years

Despite Article 83(1) and (2), a trademark right is extinguished when 5 years have passed from the establishment registration date or the term renewal registration date in any of these cases (Article 83(3)):

• The second-installment registration fee is not paid within the payment period under Article 72(3) or Article 74 (Article 83(3)(1)).
• Supplementation of the second-installment registration fee was ordered under Article 76(1), and it is not supplemented within the supplementation period (Article 83(3)(2)).
• The case falls under Article 77(1), and the second-installment registration fee is not paid or supplemented within the applicable period (Article 83(3)(3)).

Article 83(3) refers to the second-installment registration fee in a case of installment payment under the latter part of the introductory text of Article 72(1) (Article 83(3)(1)).