Trademark Industry Trends:

 

- Trend in Trademark Applications Related to Companion Animals

 

Trademark applications related to goods for companion animals, such as dogs and cats, have steadily increased by an annual average of 12% or more over the past five years. This can be attributed to the growth of the companion animal industry caused by the rapid increase in the population with companion animals due to the low birth rate, aging population, and increase in one- and two-person households. Along with the increase in the number of trademark applications related to companion animal goods, it is also worth noting that we have more refined and diversified companion animal goods than before.

 

<Trend in companion animal-related applications as a whole >

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<Trend in companion animal-related applications by business type>

 

※ Source: KIPO

 

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is varying the designated goods related to companion animals to reflect the recent market conditions. The designated goods are being diversified, for example, from simple goods such as “dog collars, dog houses, dog bowls” to “dog walking services, operation of pensions and hotels for dogs, dog-related beauty care services and bathing services, etc.” In addition to these, “companion animal funeral services, GPS position tracking devices for preventing loss of companion animals, psychotherapy for companion animals, and health care services for companion animals” are also some of the designated goods that are currently being designated.

 

 

<Application trend by business entity type>

※ Source: KIPO

 

Meanwhile, the trend of trademark applicants related to companion animal products is also worthy of note. Looking at the application trend by business entity type, the proportion of individual and SME applications significantly increased from 46.1% in 2014 to 75.2% in 2019, in which the proportion of individual applications increased from 26.5% in 2014 to 40.6% in 2019 and that of SME applications from 19.6% in 2014 to 34.6% in 2019. On the other hand, the proportion of large enterprises significantly decreased from 31.8% in 2014 to 8.0% in 2019. This is believed to be because companion animal-related businesses are often suitable for small-scale operation, which makes it is easy for individual business owners to enter the market at a relatively low cost.

 

 

Among the intellectual property applications related to companion animals, patent applications related to companion animal products that are combined with cutting-edge IT technology have also been on the rise recently. As the companion animal industry market size expands along with the increase in patent applications, the upward trend in the number of trademark applications related to companion animals is expected to continue. Under our law system adopting the first-to-file rule, and considering such a market situation, it can be said that priority should be given to efforts to secure intellectual property applications related to companion animal products. In addition, it will be important to watch the attitude of the KIPO toward the increase in the number of applications related to companion animals.