IP Insight

You can often encounter trademark disputes related to celebrities' names, stage names, and designations.

From a business point of view, if the name of a celebrity, etc. is used as a trademark, it is recommended to obtain a bigger advertising impact, and thus, it is advantageous to preempt trademarks consisting of celebrity names to gain an edge in future contracts or negotiations.

Thus, is it possible under trademark law to preempt a celebrity's name by registering it as a trademark by another party?

In principle, trademark registration of a celebrity's name is not possible. However, as an exception, if you have the consent of the celebrity, you can register this name as a trademark, and in this case, the celebrity will not be able to use his or her name as a trademark. A very detailed contract must be made so as not to get involved in disputes, and if you have a plan for registering such a trademark, it is highly indicated to pay attention to the name in question and all contract details.

For more details, check out the column of Daehyun Lee, Patent Attorney of THEWAVE IP Law Firm.

[이대현 변리사 칼럼] 연예인 명칭, 내 상표.. : 네이버블로그 (naver.com) 

Daehyun Lee, Patent Attorney 

THEWAVE IP Law Firm