Korean Trademark Opposition: Period and Procedure

This page explains Korean trademark opposition, based on the text of the Trademark Act in force from 11 November 2025. It covers when a trademark opposition in Korea can be filed, the opposition period for a Korean trademark, what the filing has to contain, and how the decision is made and challenged.

1. Publication of the application

Where the examiner finds no grounds for refusal of a trademark application, the examiner shall make a decision to publish the application (Article 57(1) of the Trademark Act). Where grounds for refusal exist for some of the designated goods and services, this means the case where the decision to refuse those designated goods and services has become final (Article 57(1)).

The examiner may skip the decision to publish in either of the following cases (Article 57(1)):

• After a certified copy of the decision to publish has been served on the applicant, the applicant divides the published application into two or more applications under Article 45, and the examiner finds no grounds for refusal of the divisional application (Article 57(1)1).
• A trial decision has cancelled a decision to refuse registration under Article 54, the designated goods and services of the application have already been published, and the examiner finds no other grounds for refusal (Article 57(1)2).

When a decision to publish is made under the main text of Article 57(1), the head of MOIP shall serve a certified copy of the decision on the applicant and shall publish the application in the Trademark Gazette (Article 57(2)). For 30 days from the date of publication, the head of MOIP shall make the application documents and their attached documents available for public inspection at MOIP (Article 57(3)).

2. Who may oppose, when and on what grounds

Once an application has been published, anyone may file an opposition with the head of MOIP within 30 days from the date of publication of the application (Article 60(1)). The opposition is to be based on either of the following grounds (Article 60(1)):

1. The application falls under a ground for refusal of a decision to refuse registration under Article 54 (Article 60(1)1).
2. The application falls under a ground for refusal of a decision to refuse additional registration under Article 87(1) (Article 60(1)2).

3. What the opposition has to contain

A person who wants to file an opposition shall submit to the head of MOIP a written opposition stating the following items, together with the necessary evidence (Article 60(2)):

• The name and address of the opponent; for a legal entity, its name and the location of its business office (Article 60(2)1).
• Where the opponent has an agent, the name and address or business office location of the agent; where the agent is a patent law firm or a patent law firm (limited), its name, the location of its office and the name of the designated patent attorney (Article 60(2)2).
• The subject of the opposition (Article 60(2)3).
• The matters opposed (Article 60(2)4).
• The grounds for the opposition and an indication of the necessary evidence (Article 60(2)5).

4. Amending the grounds and evidence

The opponent under Article 60(1) may amend the grounds and evidence stated in the written opposition within 30 days after the opposition period has passed (Article 61).

5. The examiner panel

An opposition is examined and decided by a panel made up of 3 examiners (Article 62(1)). The head of MOIP shall designate the examiners who make up the panel for each opposition (Article 62(2)). The head of MOIP shall designate 1 of those examiners as the presiding examiner (Article 62(3)). Article 130(2), Article 131(2) and Article 132(2) and (3) apply to the panel and the presiding examiner, with the terms in those provisions read as set out in Article 62(4) (Article 62(4)).

6. Applicant's answer and the decision

When an opposition is filed, the presiding examiner shall serve a copy of the written opposition on the applicant and give the applicant an opportunity to submit a written answer within a set period (Article 66(1) of the Trademark Act). The panel shall decide the opposition after both the answer period under Article 66(1) and the opposition period under Article 60(1) have passed (Article 66(2)).

The decision shall be made in writing and shall state its reasons (Article 66(3)). Where the reasons differ for two or more designated goods and services, reasons shall be stated for each of those designated goods and services (Article 66(3)).

Where the opponent has not submitted grounds or evidence within the opposition period under Article 60(1), the panel may, notwithstanding Article 66(1), dismiss the opposition by decision after the period under Article 61 has passed (Article 66(4)). In that case, a certified copy of the decision shall be served on the opponent (Article 66(4)).

When a decision under Article 66(2) is made, the head of MOIP shall serve a certified copy of it on the applicant and the opponent (Article 66(5)).

7. Challenging the decision

The applicant and the opponent may challenge a decision under Article 66(2) or (4) as follows (Article 66(6)):

8. Information submission

Apart from opposition, anyone may submit information, together with evidence, to the head of MOIP or the President of the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board, stating that a trademark for which an application for registration has been filed cannot be registered because it falls under any of the items of Article 54 (Article 49).

Based on the Korean Trademark Act as in force on 2025-11-11. Written by Youngbong Yoo, Korean patent attorney (ESUNG IP&LAW FIRM).
This page is general information about the Korean system, not legal advice on a specific matter.