Executive Summary
Shortening the Trademark Opposition Request Period (Current: 2 Months → Revised: 30 Days) – KIPO, “Make Every Effort to Shorten the Trademark Processing Period”
In response to an article in the Dong-A Ilbo on November 19, 2024, which reported that delays in trademark examinations were leading to the proliferation of counterfeit copies of foreign brands, KIPO issued a press release on November 19, 2024, acknowledging the issue and pledging to make every effort to shorten the processing period.
Specifically, KIPO announced that in addition to increasing the number of new examiners by approximately 40 over the past five years, it plans to secure an additional 10 examiners through personnel reassignment in 2025.
Furthermore, KIPO stated that it will upgrade related systems such as expanding the budget for trademark investigation and analysis projects, upgrading the AI-based trademark search system, and shortening the opposition period to improve the efficiency of examinations.
In line with this, KIPO announced in a press release on December 27, 2024, that the revised Trademark Act, which shortens the trademark opposition request period from the current two months to 30 days, has passed the National Assembly. With this revision of the Trademark Act, including the shortened opposition request period, applicants are expected to be able to secure their rights more quickly. However, despite the shortened opposition request period, the introduction of a system that extends the period for correcting the grounds for opposition (30 days) allows third parties to, in effect, have the same level of opportunity to file oppositions as before.