대학 명칭과 로고의 상표권 보호

Recently, as the importance of trademarks in relation to the marketing of products or services has begun to emerge in Korea, trademark protection of university names or logos is receiving attention. The number of universities registering their names or logos as trademarks for education or education-related services is increasing, and disputes surrounding these are also being reported. Moreover, through the Seoul National University and American University decisions, the Supreme Court also ruled that if a new concept is formed through the use of a university name without distinctiveness, its inherent distinctiveness is recognized and the registration with unused products or services is possible. Accordingly, the Korean Intellectual Property Office's trademark examination guideline also established a standard under which a university name may be judged to have inherent distinctiveness by forming a new concept through use, even though it has no inherent distinctiveness at the beginning. In the United States, trademark programs for university names and logos have been operated for a long time and are known to generate significant profits through them. In response to this foreign trend, in Korea, some well-known universities, including Seoul National University, are managing registered trademarks by establishing trademark management regulations or guidelines. However, the trademark regulations and guidelines of Korean universities are focused on commercialization through licensing trademarks and have less concern about maintaining trademark integrity. Even in the United States, disputes over university trademark use are not widely known. In relation to the use of university trademarks, it appears that the problems has been resolved to some extent since the initial dispute with Champion, and it is difficult to find many disputes with school-related parties such as graduates. Additionally, the issues were mainly related to alumni associations, and it is difficult to find cases related with individual graduates. Even in Korea, it is difficult to find trademark infringement surrounding university trademarks. Therefore, controversies surrounding university trademarks, such as issues regarding trademark use by graduates, need to become clearer through future courts' ruling.