TITLE	Supreme Court Decision 2013Hu1207 Decided October 15, 2015¡¼Invalidation of Registration (Trademark)¡½ [full Text]
Summary
[1] In cases where a trademark in prior use has acquired famousness by being widely known to most of the general public beyond those relevant parties to the transaction of designated goods, whether a certain other trademark raises concerns for consumer deception by misleading and causing confusion over the source of goods, even if that other trademark were to be used on goods other than the designated goods of the earlier-used trademark (affirmative), and the standard of determining whether a trademark in prior use is a famous trademark / Whether such a legal principle applies likewise to service marks (affirmative) [2] In a case where Company ¡°A,¡± which had earlier used the trademark ¡° (So Nyeo Shi Dae, or Girls¡¯ Generation)¡± and the service mark ¡°¼Ò³à½Ã´ë (So Nyeo Shi Dae, or Girls¡¯ Generation),¡± filed a petition for trial with the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board (¡°IPTAB¡±) against ¡°B,¡± the registered holder of the right to the registered trademark/service mark¡° (So Nyeo Shi Dae, or Girls¡¯ Generation),¡± to invalidate the registration of the latter on the grounds that the registered trademark/service mark falls under Article 7(1)11 of the Trademark Act, which the IPTAB granted, the case holding that, as the trademark/service mark in prior use have acquired famousness, there are concerns for consumer deception by misleading and causing confusion over the source of goods and services, even if a similar, registered trademark/service mark were to be used in designated goods or services different from those of the trademark/service mark in prior use

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