MBKE’s trademark application for ‘T-ara’ rejected, KIPRIS say MBKE need T-ara member approval

T-ara and MBK Entertainment are involved in a battle over the ‘T-ara’ name, and today MBKE were dunked on by the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS), as they denied their trademark application and said they needed member approval.

On June 27th, KIPRIS (Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service) published a Notification of Reason for Refusal to MBK Entertainment’s class 41 (entertainment) trademark application of T-ara’s name. The Notification indicates that as per Article 34 Section 1 Item 6 of the Trademark Act, the trademark for T-ara, a well known celebrity group, cannot be registered. Article 34 Section 1 Item 6 of the Trademark Act states a trademark that consists of the name, title, portrait, signature, seal/stamp, literary name, pen name, stage name, of a prominent person cannot be registered. Registration can only be possible if the applicant (MBK Entertainment) submits an agreement from the group members for the trademark. The legal status of the applicant still remains Under Examination. A final verdict will be made if the applicant submits no further documents in 3 months time. Previously, MBK Entertainment’s trademark application for classes 03 (cosmetics, laundry formulations, etc.), 25 (clothing, footwear, hats), 09 (science, photography, educational equipment) were refused as well.

It’s still not over, as there’s something like an appeals process to go and MBKE will surely not just let this stand, but I’m pretty surprised by how gloriously one-sided this is so far.

https://twitter.com/asianjunkiecom/status/1012577251014017024