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Newsletter/ June 31, 2002 No. 88

Name bedevils patent seekers

A number of domestic companies want to adopt the name, "Red Devils," as their products' trademark, as the popularity of the soccer team supporters, the Red Devils is soaring on a wave of World Cup fever.
But the name is banned from commercial use, the Korea Intellectual Property Office said Monday.
The government agency said that individuals and corporations are banned from using the name "Red Devils" as a trademark, because the term has already been used by fans of the Korean soccer team and has secured common name recognition.
The agent said the name "Red Devils" should be used for the public good.
According to the agency, it has received 123 applications for "Red Devils" as a trademark since the cheering squad was organized in August 1997.
The applicants wanted to use the trademark for clothes, toys, stationery, accessories, ice cream and other various goods.
All the applications bar one were thrown out.
The one application accepted was "Red Devil Akduri," from Artlang, a character merchandising company.
The government agency said that it accepted the application because the trademark included another proper noun.

Soy sauce, soju pass test of time

Sempio, a brand of soy sauce, is the oldest of the 440,000 brands and trademarks registered in Korea.
The Industrial Property Office announced the 20 oldest brands and trademarks Thursday.
Sempio was registered in May 1954.
The registration for brands and trademarks began in 1952, and Sempio was the 362nd brand to register in Korea.
Any brands and trademarks registered before Sempio have disappeared.
The second longest-lasting brand is Jinro, a soju brand, which was registered on Sep. 15, 1954. A U.S. brand, Pepsi Cola, was next, having registered the same month.
Sempio and Jinro were the only Korean brands among the 20 longest-lasting brands and trademarks.
Another 17 belonged to the United States and Japan had one.
The U.S. brands are Eveready batteries in 4th, Smith Corona typewriters in 9th, IBM in 10th and Dodge automobiles in 14th.
IBM was registered in November 1954.
The only Japanese brand in the top 20 is Camel cigarettes, which was registered in October 1954.Cheon, a make of shoe, was the first registered brand in Korea, in Aug. 31 in 1952.
It has since gone out of production." Among the 600,000 brands and trademarks that have been registered in Korea, 160,000 of them are gone," an official at the Industrial Property Office said.
According to the law, brands and trademarks are unlisted unless their holders extend the registration every 10 years.

Refocusing its sales revived a dying brand

Puma, a German sporting goods brand, was brought back to life after it targeted different customers and waged successful marketing campaigns, said Oh Sang-heun, 39, chief executive of Puma Korea.
"Although most sporting brands are enjoying booming sales because of the World Cup, Puma's extraordinary growth is thought to be unprecedented," Mr. Oh said.
Though Puma's reputation in Germany rivals that of Adidas, the brand was lagging behind other sporting goods makers in Korea and did not live up to its reputation.
Puma Korea, an E-land apparel group affiliate, had been ranked 12th, nearly last, in revenue among sporting goods brands.
It annual sales were less than 10 billion won ($8.5 million).
Puma's German headquarters once attempted to select another licenser for the brand in Korea.
However, it sales jumped to 34 billion won last year and then to 41.4 billion won for the first half of this year.
Puma Korea's
 
 
 
 
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