등록디자인의 상표 등록에 관한 소고

Although the design is originally to be influenced by the Design Protection Act, to protect it under the Trademark Law by registering a trademark is to contribute to the development of industry and to provide protection in the interest of consumers by pursuing to maintain goodwill of those using trademarks. Since a trademark occurs with its distinctiveness, when an emblem (a particular mark) is not inherently distinctive, the trademark must be proven that it has achieved distinctiveness in the consumer’s mind in order for it to become a trademark. However, determining whether a particular mark has acquired distinctiveness is a matter of the fact finder. Especially such perception is not about the general public, but about the perception of the consumers who are buyers of the product. Whether a particular product is distinctive is something up to whether the consumers perceive the mark as being distinctive. Therefore, as a result of using the mark before registering as trademark, if that particular mark has been distinctively recognized as a mark associated with a particular product, that certain product could be set as a designated good to be used to help register the trademark.