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 CHAPTER ¥²EXAMINATION
Article 22 ¡¼Examination by Examiner¡½
(1) The Commissioner of the Korean Industrial
Property Office shall have applications for
the trademarks registration and oppositions
to trademarks registration examined by examiners.
(2) The qualifications for examiners shall
be prescribed by the Presidential Decree.
(3) Any person whose application for trademark
registration falls within any subparagraph of
Article 23(1) may submit to the Commissioner
of the Korean Industrial Property Office relevant
information together with supporting evidence.
Article 22bis ¡¼Request, etc. for Inspection
of Trademark by Specialized Searching Agency¡½
(1) The Commissioner of the Korean Industrial
Property Office may request a specialized searching
agency to inspect trademarks where it is deemed
necessary to facilitate the examination for
an application of trademark registration.
(2) The Commissioner of the Korean Industrial
Property Office may request assistance or hear
from the competent administrative agency, a
person with vast knowledge and experience in
trademarks, or interested persons, where it
is deemed necessary for the examination of an
application for trademark registration.
(3) Criteria for the specialized searching
agency and requests for the search of trademarks
pursuant to paragraph (1) of this Article shall
be prescribed by the Presidential Decree.
Article 23 ¡¼Ruling of Refusal and Notification
of Reasons for Refusal¡½
(1) The examiner shall make a ruling to refuse
an application for trademark registration where
it falls under any of the following subparagraphs:
(¥¡) the trademark for which registration
is sought is not registrable in accordance with
the provisions of Article 3, 6 to 8, 10(1),
12(2) (second sentence), (5) and (7) to (9)
of Trademark Law or 25 of the Patent Law as
applied under Article 5 of the Trademark Law;
(¥¢) the trademark for which registration
is sought is in violation of the provisions
of a treaty;
(¥£) the trademark is identical, or similar
to a trademark registered in the territory of
a country which is a party to a treaty and has
been filed by a person who is or was an agent
or a representative of the owner of the trademark,
within one year prior to the date of filing,
without such owner's authorization, for designated
goods which are identical, or similar to the
designated goods covered by the owner's trade-mark;
however, this provision shall apply only where
an opposition has been filed by the owner.
(2) An examiner shall, when intending to
make a ruling of refusal of an application for
trademark registration under paragraph (1) of
this Article, notify the applicant of the reasons
for refusal and give the applicant an opportunity
to submit a written statement of applicant's
arguments, designating a time limit for such
submission.
Article 24 ¡¼Publication of Application¡½
(1) Where an examiner finds no grounds for
rejecting an application for trademark registration,
he shall render a decision to publish the application.
(2) Where a decision under paragraph (1)
of this Article is made, the Commissioner of
the Korean Industrial Property Office shall
transmit the decision to the applicant and publish
the application in the Trademark Gazette.
(3) The Commissioner of the Korean Industrial
Property Office shall make the documents of
the application for trademark registration and
other related documents available for public
inspection at the Korean Industrial Property
Office for a period of thirty days following
the date of publication of the application.
Article 25 ¡¼Opposition to Trademark Registration¡½
(1) When an application is published, any
person may raise an opposition to a trademark
registration which falls within each subparagraph
of Article 23(1) with the Commissioner of the
Korean Industrial Property Office within thirty
days from the date of publication of the application.
(2) If any person intends to make an opposition
to a trademark registration, such person shall
submit to the Commissioner of the Korean Industrial
Property Office a written opposition specifying
matters falling under each of the following
subparagraphs, together with the supporting
evidence:
(¥¡) the name and the domicile of the applicant
for the opposition to a trademark registration
or the agent of such person(in the case of a
legal entity, the title, place of business and
the name of its representative) ;
(¥¢) serial number of the application for
the trademark registration ;
(¥£) relevant category of goods and designated
goods ;
(¥¤) grounds of the application for the opposition
to a trademark registration ; and
(¥¥) reasons for the application for the
opposition to a trademark registration and indication
of supporting evidences.
Article 26 ¡¼Amendment of Reasons for Opposition
to Trademark Registration¡½
A person who has filed a notice of opposition
to a trademark registration under Article 25(1)
(hereinafter referred to as the "opponent")
may amend the reasons and evidence submitted
in the notice of opposition to the trademark
registration within thirty days from the expiration
of the time limit for filing the notice of opposition.
Article 27 ¡¼Decision on Opposition to Trademark
Registration¡½
(1) Where a notice of opposition has been
filed, the examiner shall transmit to the applicant
a copy of the notice of opposition to the trademark
registration and give the applicant an opportunity
to submit an answer in writing within the designated
time limit.
(2) After the expiration of the time limits
prescribed in paragraph (1) of this Article
and Article 26, the examiner shall render a
decision on the opposition to the trademark
registration.
(3) Where an opponent fails to submit reasons
and evidence, the examiner may reject the opposition
to the trademark registration by decision after
the expiration of the time limit under Article
26, notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this Article.
(4) The decision on the opposition to a trademark
registration shall be made in writing and state
the reasons therefor.
(5) The Commissioner of the Korean Industrial
Property Office shall, when a decision has been
rendered under paragraph (2) of this Article,
transmit a certified copy of the decision to
the applicant and the Opponent.
(6) No appeal shall be made against the decision
on the opposition to a trademark registration.
(7) In applying paragraph (4) of this Article,
where there are different reasons for the decision
on the opposition to a trademark registration
for two or more designated goods, the examiner
shall give specific reasons for the decision
for each of the respective goods.
Article 28 ¡¼Ruling of Refusal Made Ex Officio
after Publication¡½
(1) Where an examiner finds reasons for refusal
after the publication of an application, he
may make a ruling of refusal ex officio under
Article 23.
(2) Where an examiner makes a ruling to refuse
an application under paragraph (1) of this Article,
he shall not render a decision on the opposition
to the registration of a trademark even if the
opposition has been filed in accordance with
Article 25.
(3) Where a ruling of refusal has been made
under paragraph (1) of this Article, the Commissioner
of the Korean Industrial Property Office shall
transmit a certified copy of the ruling of refusal
to the opponent.
Article 29 ¡¼Concurrent Oppositions to Trademark
Registration¡½
(1) Where two or more oppositions have been
filed, an examiner may examine and rule upon
them jointly or separately.
(2) Where two or more oppositions have been
filed and one of them is deemed to be justified
upon examination, the examiner need not render
a ruling as to the other opposition(s).
(3) The Commissioner of the Korean Industrial
Property Office shall also transmit a certified
copy of the decision of rejection to the opponents
whose oppositions were not examined under paragraph(2)
of this Article.
Article 30 ¡¼Ruling on Registration of Trademark¡½
Where the examiner cannot find any reasons
for refusing an application for the registration
of a trademark, the examiner shall render a
ruling in favor of trademark registration.
Article 31 ¡¼Method of Decision¡½
(1) The ruling on the registration of a trademark
shall be made in writing and shall state the
reasons therefor.
(2) Where an examiner has made a ruling on
the registration of a trademark, the Commissioner
of the Korean Industrial Property Office shall
transmit a certified copy of the ruling to the
applicant.
Article 32 ¡¼Suspension of Examination or
Litigation Proceedings¡½
(1) The examination procedure of an application
for the registration of a trademark may, if
necessary, be suspended until a trial decision
has become final and conclusive or litigation
proceedings have been concluded.
(2) The court may, if necessary in the litigation,
suspend proceedings until the examiner's decision
has become final and conclusive.
Article 33 ¡¼Mutatis Mutandis Application
of Provisions of the Patent Law¡½
Articles 148(1) - (5), (7) and 157 of the
Patent Law and Articles 133, 271 and 339 of
the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply mutatis
mutandis to the examination of applications
for the registration of trademarks.
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