상표 유사 여부 판단과 ‘호칭’의 중점 고려 원칙

Judging the Similarity or Dissimilarity of Marks, and Principle of Considering ‘Sound’ Foremost: With focus on Supreme Court ruling 2020Hu10957(ruled on Dec. 30, 2020)

This article intends to contribute to the examination of recent controversial ruling (2020Hu10957, ruled on Dec. 30, 2020) by the Supreme Court on judging the similarity or dissimilarity of Word Marks (“ ” vs. “ ”). Specifically, concerning the presented question whether the filed mark “ ” is confusingly similar to the registered mark “ ”, the Supreme Court held that there is no likelihood of confusion, mistake among the consumers because the two marks are sufficiently dissimilar in their appearance while acknowledging the auditory similarity of the two marks. The article proposes that the principle of ‘considering sound foremost’, which is of high importance in the environs of the marketplace, needs to be established as court precedents with a view to prevent confusion caused by the ruling, and to judge the similarity or dissimilarity of marks aligned with the purposes of trademark act. This article also urges the standards for judging similarity or dissimilarity for each type of mark should be presented, and the specific conditions and examination cases under which the principle of ‘considering sound foremost’ can be applied must be newly incorporated in the trademark manual of examining procedure (TMEP) of Korea.