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PUBLICATIONS
[Trademark Essentials for Marketers, 2020]
Essential Korean trademark practices tailored for working-level staff — by a trademark attorney with 19 years of hands-on experience.
[Build Your Brand with Patents, 2022]
Expert insights on securing patents strategies through open tech.
[Surviving as a Brand on Earth: Global Trademark Battles (2025)]
How did other Korean companies overcome trademark challenges abroad? Here’s a casebook based on 19 years of real-world experience handling global trademark disputes.
Notable Success Cases
Successful Invalidation and Domain Recovery : Baidu Case
A Korean individual registered the “BAIDU” trademark in 2008 and secured the domains baidu.co.kr and baidu.kr, mimicking the well-known Chinese tech brand. Despite Baidu’s earlier global use and trademark registrations since 1999, the infringing mark remained active in Korea.
Represented by Sarang IP Law Firm, Baidu filed a trademark invalidation action, arguing prior use and reputation in China and Korea. In 2021, the Korean Patent Court ruled in favor of Baidu, invalidating the trademark with retroactive effect due to the registrant’s bad faith.
Following this victory, Sarang IP also filed a domain dispute complaint on Baidu’s behalf.
The panel concluded the domain registrations were made in bad faith and lacked any legitimate interest. As a result, the domains were ordered to be cancelled. Baidu successfully re-registered the domains under its own name.
Successful Trademark Acquisition of “Medi-Peel” in China
In 2018, Skinidea Co., Ltd. urgently needed to secure the “Medi-Peel” trademark in China to finalize a major contract with a top Chinese distributor.
However, the existence of an identical prior registration made the situation difficult. Skinidea filed a new trademark application along with a non-use cancellation action, but the entire process was expected to take more than 18 months.
Facing a business-critical moment, Sarang IP Law Firm advised a bold alternative: acquiring the prior mark directly. Despite difficulties locating the trademark owner—whose agent had gone out of business—Sarang IP successfully tracked down the owner with help from local partners. Sarang led all negotiations, persistently worked to reduce the initial asking price, and ultimately finalized the deal on-site in Guangzhou through a local patent attorney.
Thanks to this strategic move, Skinidea secured full rights in the core cosmetics category.
After obtaining the trademark, Skinidea quickly expanded in China—doubling annual sales and achieving tenfold growth within three years, with over half from the Chinese market.
Recent Case Victory: Successful Securing Trademark Rights for Doowon in India and Europe
Sarang IP recently secured a major win for Doowon Precision Industry Co., Ltd. in trademark opposition proceedings in India and Europe regarding Class 7 compressors.
Doowon has been manufacturing automotive air-conditioning compressors since 1991, supplying both affiliates and global carmakers.
The dispute arose when an affiliate attempted to preempt the “DOOWON” trademark, creating significant legal complications.
A key issue was whether the DOOWON mark, affixed to the compressors, could be considered a trademark for the compressors themselves.
Sarang IP argued that even if a component is part of a larger system, it constitutes an independent product in commerce if it is sold and distributed separately. Therefore, the use of the mark on such components qualifies as genuine trademark use.
The Indian tribunal ultimately accepted this argument, recognizing Doowon’s legitimate trademark rights over its compressors.
MAJOR CLIENTS
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