Nintendo Filed Opposition Against "Pikachu"-like Trademark in South Korea

Nintendo filed an opposition against a registered trademark in South Korea in which the design of the character is very similar to that of “Pikachu”, one of the main characters of the Pokemon series.

The character registered as a trademark is said to be based on the idea of a yellow rabbit, and its merchandise has already been sold via the Internet.

South Korea is frequently discussed in the news as being a place where alleged fake products may be found; however, the government has been making continuous efforts to crack down on counterfeit goods.

In order to combat the problem of counterfeit products, the Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) established a policing organization called the “Special Judicial Police Force for Trademarks (SJPF)” in order to strengthen enforcement. Moreover, the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Association (KIPRA), an organization independent from KIPO, helps support the SJPF and the local government by collecting information regarding counterfeit products both Offline and Online.

On November 17, Yoko MIYAMOTO, one of the patent attorneys of our firm, visited KIPRA and participated in a seminar on efforts to combat counterfeiting. Recently, counterfeit trading via SNS has also become rampant in South Korea, and this type of trading makes identifying infringers more difficult than in the past.