메타버스 내 상표사용에 따른 상표법상 쟁점과 제도 개선방안에 대한 연구

It is necessary to examine various trademark legal issues related to the use of trademarks for virtual goods (digital goods) in the extended virtual world (metaverse), such as trademark infringement and proof of trademark use in a Cancellation Trial of Trademark Registration Based on Non-Use in Trademark Act. Also, it will be necessary to discusses ways to improve the current trademark act and related laws and guidelines. Specifically, it will be necessary to explore the issue of status and responsibility of metaverse platform operators, referring to precedents and verdicts dealing with trademark infringement issues of similar e-commerce platform operators. In addition, as the commerce of virtual products is activated on metaverse, the main issue will not be misleading from sources, but it will be a problem of trademark dilution, such as damage to the distinguishability or reputation of the trademark, so it is necessary to review solutions according to confusion and dilution theory. Furthermore, regarding the issue of trademark infringement in metaverse in the future, it is necessary to consider the regulations of Jurisdiction of Intellectual Property Infringement (Article 39 of Korean Act on Private International Law) and the regulations of the governing law (Article 40 of Korean Act on Private International Law), and discusses the need to supplement how to define and regulate the place of illegal action or the place where the result occurs. and discusses the need to supplement how to define and regulate the place of illegal action or the place where the result occurs. And this paper analyses the Korean Intellectual Property Office(KIPO) guidelines for processing virtual product examinations prepared in preparation for trademark disputes in the metaverse. Even if the virtual product examination processing guidelines are not legally binding, it can be used as a reference in litigation and ensure consistency and predictability of the examination. And, there will be a lot of discussion in the future regarding whether the use of a trademark in a metaverse can be regarded as “domestic use” in the Cancellation Trial of Trademark Registration Based on Non-Use in Trademark Act, but in this paper, on the issue of proof of “domestic use”, if the use of a trademark is proved to a user(consumer) connected to an IP address in Korea in the metaverse where the IP address is confirmed after trademark registration, it is proposed to recognize such use as “use of the trademark in Korea.” In addition, in the Trial for the Cancellation for Nonuse, it will not be easy for the trademark owner who has the burden of proving of use proof of the trademark on the designated product to secure evidence of trademark use in the unusual environment of the metaverse. Therefore, it is necessary to establish Agency for Digital Evidence Investigation and Analysis as a public institution under the KIPO so that the cancellation trial party and the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board can collect and analyze trademark use data in the metaverse by using a Agency for Digital Evidence Investigation and Analysis in the form of an request for an appraisal(an expert opinion) so that effective evidence investigation can be carried out.