Amendment to the Korean Trademark Examination Guidelines Effective January 1, 2021: The Goods “Software” Are Now Required To Be Specified In Terms of Purpose
韓國商標審查指南修正案於2021年1月1日生效：指定商品“Software”應加註具體用途
The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has amended the Korean Trademark Examination Guidelines (“Guidelines”) regarding the goods “software” as of January 1, 2021. According to the amended Guidelines, the goods “software” are required to be specified in terms of its purpose (e.g., “game software” or “software for vehicle navigation”) for all trademark applications filed on and after January 1, 2021. The KIPO announced that the purpose of the amendment is to reflect the market circumstances relating to software, examination practice in foreign countries, and opinions in the relevant industry.
根據KIPO修正後的審查指南，於2021年1月1日當天或之後提交的新申請案，皆需詳細說明商品“software”的用途(例如:遊戲軟體、汽車導航軟體”)，KIPO宣布該修正案的目的是為了反映有關軟體市場情況、他國審查實踐以及產業意見。
In the past, the KIPO allowed broad descriptions of the goods “software” (such as “recorded computer software” and “software for smartphone applications”), thereby granting trademark rights for software for all purposes. However, given that software is practically used for a limited purpose, allowing the registration of a trademark for the goods “software” excessively restricted competitors from registering trademarks for software for different uses.
過去KIPO允許泛義的”software”(像是”電腦錄製程式”及”手機應用程式”)，從而核准商標權存在於所有用途的軟體上，但此舉卻過度限制了欲指定”software”於不同用途的其他競爭者。
The amendment also obligates the examiner to consider the purpose and nature of software when examining the similarity of goods and services relating to software so that confusion with regard to the source of the compared goods and services can be avoided.
該修正案還規定審查委員在審查與”software”有關的商品和服務的近似性時，必須考慮到用途及性質，以便避免對其來源造成混淆。
According to a KIPO official, trademark applications filed prior to January 1, 2021 will be examined based on the prior Guidelines, and thus it is not necessary to voluntarily amend the goods “software” to describe the purpose for such applications.
根據KIPO官方規定，於2021年1月1日之前申請的商標審查會依據修正前的指南，因此申請人無須主動要求修正指定商品”software”的描述。
結語
此次KIPO修正了審查商標指南，讓其他想在軟體領域提出新商標申請的人有較公平的機會爭取註冊。也因此，在2021年1月1日當天或之後提出商標的申請人須注意，實際使用的商品或服務應該與所指定的軟體用途相符，以免未來發生第三方對商標提出未使用撤銷時，無法提出屬於該用途之軟體使用證據而遭到撤銷。除了軟體產業，在未來有關指定商品／服務具體化描述用途的規定可預見會增加而非減少，並且少數允許指定分類標題(class heading)的國家也將可能跟進，故建議註冊商標時，提供商標所指定的商品和服務的準確描述，確保註冊商標有完善的保護範圍。
資料來源: LEE INTERNATIONAL IP & LAW GROUP
【以上論述僅屬作者個人觀點不代表本所立場。歡迎註明出處後轉載。】
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