인터넷 상에서 영업표지 사용 요건의 해석 -대법원 2010. 9. 30. 선고 2009도12238 판결을 중심으로-

Use of signs such as trade- and service-marks in the Internet has characteristics distinguished from the use of the conventional counterparts. This makes the meaning and the scope of the use of the marks obscure and have caused two interpretation methods for the meaning of the use: an interpretation stressing the original function of the mark indicating the origin of the products or the services to which the marks attached, and an interpretation stressing the resulted effect of confusion caused by the use of the marks. A recent precedent by the Supreme Court of Korea, 2009do12238,holds that the insertion and/or substitution of advertisement images in the web-pages constitute the "use" in the meaning of Unfair Competition and Trade secret Protection Act of Korea. This decision is interpreted to have taken the latter sort of the interpretation methods. This paper critically reviews the reasoning of the decision and concludes that the former sort of the interpretation is more plausible to prevent improper extension of the right of the mark holders.