Lee International

Trademark Opposition Period to be Shortened from 2 Months to 30 Days Starting July 2025

A partial amendment to the Korean Trademark Act, aimed at shortening the trademark opposition period from two months to thirty (30) days, was passed by the National Assembly on December 27, 2024.

Under the current Korean Trademark Act, if an examiner does not identify any grounds for refusal during examination of a trademark application, the application is published for opposition, allowing third parties to oppose the registration within two (2) months from the date of publication.  However, under this amendment, the opposition period will be reduced to thirty (30) days.

Given the average first action pendency of 13 to 14 months (as of November 2024), the need to expediate the trademark registration process was evident. This amendment is intended to help applicants to secure trademark rights more efficiently and within a shorter period.

Under this amendment, opponents will need to make quicker decisions regarding opposition filings due to the shortened opposition period. However, they can still provide additional grounds for opposition within 30 days of filing.  This period can be extended by thirty (30) days, effectively allowing up to 60 extra days to finalize the grounds for opposition after the initial filing.

Apart from the opposition process, third parties can challenge trademark registrations through a Third-Party Observation. Since trademark application details are publicly available on the KIPRIS database from the early stages of prosecution, third parties may submit the Third-Party Observations to oppose the trademark application at any point during prosecution, even before it is published for opposition.

This amendment underscores the importance of proactive monitoring trademarks filed by third parties to ensure the protection of the right to oppose conflicting trademark applications.

This amendment is scheduled to come into effect in July 2025.