Bible Kim who applied for the trademark of "Map of the Korean Peninsula"...Grand Code "No Identification"

The Supreme Court ruled that a map of the Republic of Korea without a separate phrase cannot be registered as an exclusive trademark due to its lack of discrimination.

On the 31st of last month, the Supreme Court confirmed the original ruling against the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Sung Kyung-Kim against the head of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, asking him to "cancel the judgment of the Patent Tribunal for disallowing trademark registration."

The Supreme Court explained that it is a map if it is in a form that the general consumer can recognize as a map according to the conventional wisdom of society, and according to Article 33 of the Trademark Act, trademarks with only maps cannot be registered.

Earlier, Bible Kim applied for a trademark in the form of the outline of a map of the Korean Peninsula used on the seaweed wrapper, but the Korean Intellectual Property Office refused to register it, saying it was a "trademark with only a map."

In response, Sung Sung Kim filed a lawsuit against the Patent Tribunal when it was not accepted, and the Patent Court also made the same decision.