Patagonia sued the drag performer and environmental activist Pattie Gonia in January 2026, seeking one dollar in damages. The nominal figure was the point: the company said it was protecting a mark, not pursuing money. What actually triggered the suit was not the persona, which had existed since 2018 — it was a 2025 trademark…
In April 2026 the US Supreme Court declined to hear Curtin v. United Trademark Holdings, ending a six-year effort by a law professor and doll collector to stop the registration of RAPUNZEL for dolls and toy figures. She argued the name was generic and failed to function as a mark. No tribunal ever ruled on…
Almost every design team now has generative tools somewhere in its workflow — for moodboards, for variant exploration, for the first fifty shapes nobody will use. Until recently, no patent office had said what that means for a design application. Korea has now said it. On 9 July 2026 the Ministry of Intellectual Property (MOIP)…
When a foreign company begins selling in Korea, packaging and product pages are usually localised for language, units and safety labelling. The intellectual property notices are almost never touched. The patent number that has sat on the box since the product launched at home stays exactly where it is. In Korea, that carried-over line is…
Did you update your logo? Your trademark could be cancelled in Korea. Learn the “Identity Test” for non-use cancellation trials and how to protect your brand.
Why are patent trials dismissed in Korea before they even begin? Learn the critical importance of defining the “Target Invention” in Scope Confirmation Trials.
When is an invention considered “completed” in Korea? Learn the legal criteria for employee invention disputes and the “technical feature” test from a recent court ruling.
Is printing a logo always trademark infringement? Not in Korea. Learn the legal definition of “Trademark Use” through the Bomb Rice and VSP court cases.
Can you patent a sausage rice cake? Yes. A Korean court awarded 40M KRW in damages for food design infringement. Learn how damages are calculated in Korea.
Is the scope of Korean design rights too narrow? A Supreme Court ruling says “Yes” for common items, but registering is still vital. Learn why.