Trademark Similarity: uniPOS versus POS

2000 Heo 1634 Judgment [Trademark refusal]

The applied-for trademark and service mark “uniPOS” combine “uni” and “POS” as a single expression. “POS,” short for “Point of Sale,” lacks distinctiveness in the relevant context. The combined mark was therefore found dissimilar to the earlier registered service mark “POS.”

Similarity is assessed objectively and as a whole through appearance, pronunciation and concept, considering the marks as encountered separately. Similarity in one aspect does not establish overall similarity where the other aspects clearly avoid confusion; conversely, differences do not preclude similarity where consumers may still be confused.

“uniPOS” is a single coined expression. The lowercase “uni” and uppercase “POS” do not, by themselves, justify separating it. Its Korean pronunciation is a relatively short four syllables. “uni” is a prefix meaning “one” or “single” that combines with another word, so separating the mark into “uni” and “POS” would be unnatural.

Dictionaries and trade usage recognize “POS” as an abbreviation for point of sale. Many marks containing “POS” were registered for relevant computers, terminals and management services. The court therefore found “POS” insufficiently distinctive to be the dominant element and unlikely to be used alone to refer to “uniPOS”.

“uniPOS” is pronounced in Korean as “yuniposeu”, while “POS” is pronounced “poseu” or “pi-o-eseu”. Their appearances and concepts are also dissimilar. The court found the marks dissimilar overall and unlikely to cause confusion even on identical or similar services.