우리나라에서 트레이드 드레스의 법적 보호에 관한 연구

This article is devoted to review the legal protection of trade dress in Korea. The Korean intellectual property laws do not know originally the concept of trade dress, which means that generally refers to characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a building) that identify the source of the product to consumers in America. According to the American trademark law system, trade dress is protected as a form of intellectual property including trade mark and trade names. The concept of trade dress in Korea, in my opinion, is not suited to Korean Intellectual Property Law System. Because business signs have to be registered to Korea Intellectual Property Office in order to be protected as intellectual property in Korea. And business signs which do not be registered shall be well known in Korea to be protected by unfair competition law. In my opinion, forms which belong to trade dress are possible to be protected in Korean Trademark Law, Korean Design law, and Korean Unfair Competition Law.