How to Register a Trademark in South Korea: Complete 2026 Guide

South Korea is a market of more than 51 million consumers, and K-beauty, K-pop and Korean tech have made it a first stop rather than an afterthought for global brands. The trademark system there runs on a strict first-to-file principle, so the first application on file usually wins, whoever used the name first.

This guide walks through what you can protect, how the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) handles an application, what it costs, why a Hangul version of your name matters, and what to do once you are registered. If you would like the search done first, start with a free trademark check.

What can you trademark in South Korea?

The Korean Trademark Act is modern and covers a wide range of brand identifiers. The core requirement is distinctiveness. Your mark has to be capable of telling your goods or services apart from everyone else's.

Standard trademarks

• Word marks: the name of your brand, product or service in letters.
• Device marks (logos): stylized designs, symbols or images with no text.
• Composite marks: a combination of words and design elements.
• Letters and numerals: specific letter or number combinations that have acquired distinctiveness.

Non-traditional trademarks

KIPO also registers less conventional marks, as long as they are distinctive:

• 3D marks: the shape of a product or its packaging, such as the contour of a bottle.
• Color marks: a single color or a combination applied to a product or service. Proving a color alone identifies your brand takes substantial evidence of use.
• Sound marks: short, distinctive melodies, such as an advertising jingle or a device startup sound.
• Scent marks: specific fragrances. These are among the hardest to register and need strong proof that consumers link the scent to you.
• Hologram and motion marks: marks that change in appearance or show movement.

Some things cannot be registered. Under Article 33 of the Korean Trademark Act, marks that lack distinctiveness are refused, including generic terms ("Smartphone" for smartphones) and marks that simply describe quality, origin or function ("SWEET" for sugar). Article 34 covers other grounds, such as marks similar to national flags or emblems of public institutions, and marks contrary to public order and morality.

Step by step: registering a trademark with KIPO

First-to-file is the concept to hold on to. The first party to file, not the first to use, generally gets the rights. Waiting until your brand is established in Korea before filing leaves the door open for someone else to register your name.

Step 1: Run a comprehensive search

A thorough search of the KIPO database before you file tells you whether your mark is available or is heading for a conflict with an earlier registration or pending application.

The official search portal is KIPRIS (Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service). It has an English interface, but an English-only search is not enough. You also need to cover:

• Hangul equivalents: how your brand name would be written and pronounced in Korean. There are often several phonetic variations.
• Similar meanings: existing Korean marks that create a similar commercial impression, even if they look and sound different.
• Component parts: individual elements of your mark, since a conflict with a dominant component can sink the whole application.

Because of the linguistic and cultural nuances, an automated English search alone will miss things. A professional search covers Roman characters, Hangul variations and design elements, and gives you a clear picture before you spend money on filing.

Step 2: Prepare and file the application

A key rule for foreign applicants: you must appoint a local Korean trademark agent or attorney to file and manage your application. A foreign individual or company cannot file directly with KIPO.

Your agent handles the submission and all communication with KIPO. To file, they will need:

• Applicant details: full name and address of the trademark owner.
• The mark: a clear representation. For word marks, the name itself. For logos or composite marks, a high-resolution image file.
• List of goods and services: South Korea uses the Nice Classification, the international system that groups goods and services into 45 classes. If you are not sure which classes fit your business, Class Assist walks through it.
• Power of attorney: a document signed by the applicant authorizing the local agent to act for you.

A practical tip: KIPO maintains its own list of pre-approved descriptions of goods and services. Using those terms speeds examination and reduces the chance of an objection about the scope of your protection.

Step 3: KIPO examination

After filing, an examiner reviews the application for formalities and for substantive issues. This is normally the longest stage of the process. KIPO publishes current examination pendency figures, so check those before you fix a launch date around your registration.

The examiner assesses:

• Formalities: is the applicant information correct, and are the goods and services classified properly?
• Absolute grounds for refusal: is the mark distinctive, or is it generic, descriptive or deceptive (Article 33)?
• Relative grounds for refusal: is the mark identical or confusingly similar to a prior trademark on the register?

If the examiner finds a problem, they issue a "Notice of Preliminary Rejection", the Korean equivalent of an office action. You get a set period, typically two months and extendable, to respond with legal arguments and, where needed, evidence. Overcoming a preliminary rejection almost always needs a local trademark attorney.

Step 4: Publication for opposition

Once the application passes examination, KIPO publishes it in the official Trademark Gazette. That starts a two-month opposition period.

During that window, any third party who believes they would be damaged by your registration can oppose it. The opponent files a brief setting out the grounds, you file a counter-argument, and a panel of KIPO examiners decides.

Step 5: Decision to grant and registration

If nobody opposes, or you see off an opposition, KIPO issues a "Decision to Grant Registration". That is the approval, but not the last step. You then pay the official registration fee by the stated deadline. Once payment clears, your mark goes on the register, a registration number is assigned, and a certificate is issued. Protection runs for 10 years from the registration date.

What it costs in South Korea

Budgeting means looking at two things: the official KIPO fees, and the professional fees for the local agent you are required to appoint.

KIPO charges per class. The application fee is KRW 62,000 per class, paid at filing. Renewal, at the end of each 10-year term, is KRW 230,000 per class. A registration fee is also due per class once your mark is approved, before the certificate issues. For the all-in figure including agent work, see our South Korea trademark service or the pricing page, where the total is set out as a flat fee before you commit.

Other costs to plan for:

• Professional fees for preparing and filing the application, managing communication with KIPO and reporting back.
• Translation where documents have to go into Korean.
• Office action responses, if the application draws a preliminary rejection.
• Search fees for a professional pre-filing clearance search.

Skipping the search phase to save money tends to cost more later, because a refusal means paying twice.

Why you also want a Hangul trademark

One of the most common mistakes foreign brands make in Korea is registering only the Roman-character version of the name. That is essential, but on its own it is incomplete protection in a market where Hangul dominates.

Korean consumers will transliterate your brand into Hangul for conversation, social media and search. Starbucks, for example, is universally 스타벅스 (Seu-ta-beok-seu). If you do not claim a Hangul version, three things tend to happen:

1. Multiple unofficial versions. Consumers and resellers invent inconsistent spellings, which dilutes your identity and makes you harder to find.
2. Trademark squatting. A local operator can register the obvious phonetic transliteration, then use it to block your goods at customs, sue for infringement, or sell the registration back to you.
3. Harder enforcement. Counterfeiters on Coupang or Naver often use only the Hangul name. Owning the matching Hangul registration makes those takedowns straightforward.

Best practice is two applications: your original Roman-character mark, and a carefully chosen Hangul version. Picking the right transliteration takes linguistic input, so that it is phonetically accurate, easy to say, and free of unintended meaning in Korean. It is a small filing that buys a large amount of security.

Common grounds for refusal

KIPO examiners are thorough, and plenty of applications draw an initial rejection. Knowing the usual causes helps you file a stronger application.

Similarity to prior marks

The most frequent reason for refusal, and the reason a professional search pays for itself. KIPO looks at visual similarity (how the marks look), aural similarity (how they sound) and conceptual similarity (what they mean). That is why the phonetic Hangul search matters: a mark that looks different but sounds the same to a Korean speaker can be refused.

Lack of distinctiveness

Under Article 33, marks that cannot function as a source identifier are rejected:

• Generic marks: the common name for the product ("Bread" for a bakery).
• Descriptive marks: marks that merely describe a characteristic, such as purpose, quality, size or shape ("COLD AND REFRESHING" for beverages).
• Geographical locations: a well-known place name, unless the mark has acquired secondary meaning.

A descriptiveness rejection can be overcome by proving acquired distinctiveness, that is, showing that through extensive use and marketing in Korea consumers now read the term as your brand. The evidence bar is high and it is rarely realistic for a new market entrant.

Conflict with public order or morality

Under Article 34, marks that are scandalous or offensive, or that are likely to mislead consumers about the nature or quality of the goods, can be refused. The same applies to marks that falsely suggest a link to a government or public body.

Madrid Protocol or direct national filing?

There are two routes into Korea.

Direct national filing

The route described in this guide: a local Korean agent files your application directly with KIPO.

• Pros: expert local advice from day one, an application tailored to KIPO practice (including the pre-approved goods descriptions), and more direct control. Often faster if Korea is one of only a few countries on your list.
• Cons: if you are filing in many countries, running separate agents and filings in each is administratively heavier.

The Madrid Protocol

The Madrid System lets you file one international application through your home office and designate multiple member countries, Korea included.

• Pros: one application, one set of fees and one renewal date across a portfolio. Usually the better economics once you are targeting five or more member countries.
• Cons: for the first five years the international registration depends on your home application, so if the home application falls, the designations fall with it. A Madrid designation in Korea is still fully examined by KIPO under Korean law, and if an office action issues you will still need a local agent to answer it, sometimes on a tighter deadline.

Which is right depends on how many countries you are covering, your budget and your appetite for admin. For brands whose main prize is Korea itself, a direct national filing usually gives more control.

Protecting your brand on Coupang, Naver and other K-commerce platforms

South Korea has one of the most developed e-commerce markets anywhere, led by Coupang and Naver Shopping. Those platforms are where Korean consumers discover products, and they are also where counterfeits and unauthorized resellers show up.

A KIPO registration is what makes enforcement work there. Every major Korean platform runs an intellectual property reporting system, and to take down an infringing listing you generally:

1. Open the platform's IP reporting portal.
2. Give your Korean trademark registration number as proof of ownership.
3. Identify the specific listings that infringe.
4. Submit the takedown request.

Without a registration number, complaints tend to go nowhere. With both the Roman-character and Hangul marks registered, you have clear authority to pull listings that take your sales.

After registration: keeping the right alive

Registration is a milestone, not the finish line.

Use your mark

A Korean registration becomes vulnerable to cancellation if the mark is not used in South Korea for three consecutive years. Under Article 119 of the Korean Trademark Act, an interested third party can file a non-use cancellation action, and your defense is proof of genuine use in Korean commerce: product packaging, local advertising, a Korean-language website, or goods sold through local distributors or e-commerce.

Monitor and enforce

Your registration gives you the right to stop others, but policing it is on you. A trademark watch service reviews the Trademark Gazette for newly published applications that look confusingly similar to yours, which gives you the chance to oppose before a conflicting mark ever registers.

Renew on time

A Korean trademark runs for 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely in 10-year terms at KRW 230,000 per class. The renewal window opens one year before expiry, and there is a six-month grace period afterwards with a late fee. Docketing those dates across a portfolio is the part clients most often hand to us.