2008 Heo 1104 Trademark refusal
[General principles of similarity assessment]
Trademark similarity is assessed objectively and as a whole through appearance, pronunciation and concept, considering whether consumers or traders may confuse the source of the goods.
[Earlier registered mark]
[Applied-for mark]
[Comparison of the marks]
1. Appearance
Both are word marks: the application uses the Latin lettering “FOODGEN,” while the earlier registration uses Korean wording pronounced “Pureujen.” Their appearances differ.
2. The Pronunciation
“FOODGEN” would be pronounced in Korean as “pudeujen”, while the earlier mark is pronounced “pureujen”. They have the same number of syllables and differ only in the consonant of the second syllable, producing similar overall sounds.
3. The concept
Neither mark has a definite concept for comparison.
[Decisions]
When pronounced “Pudeujen” and “Pureujen” and used for identical or similar goods, the marks may cause consumers or traders to confuse the source because of their phonetic similarity. The court therefore found them similar.
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