Two countries share experience on trademark coexistence consent, AI use in examination at 21-year forum
The Korea Intellectual Property Office is hosting the 21st Korea-Japan Trademark Experts Meeting at the Korea Intellectual Property Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Monday through Tuesday, with trademark specialists from the Japan Patent Office in attendance.
The annual forum, now in its 21st year, serves as a platform for the two countries to share current issues and experiences in the intellectual property field.
The two sides conduct the meeting by exchanging written questions in advance on each agenda item and presenting their responses to one another.
Monday's session will cover trademark law and examination guideline issues — including trademark coexistence consent, regional collective marks and distinctiveness assessments — along with product classification matters and avenues for cooperation within TM5, the grouping of the world's five largest trademark offices: Korea, the United States, Europe, Japan and China.
Tuesday's session will focus on the use of AI in trademark examination. Both countries already apply AI to tasks such as figurative image and word mark searches. The session will examine current practices and future plans for deploying AI in actual trademark examination, covering model selection, data input and training, and the feedback loop for evaluating results.
Nam Young-taek, director general of the Trademark and Design Examination Bureau at the Korea Intellectual Property Office, said the meeting is "a meaningful occasion for trademark practitioners from both countries to meet in person and share their experiences and concerns on common issues such as trademark law and systems, product classification, and AI use." He added that he hopes the meeting will further strengthen cooperation between Korea and Japan on trademark policy and system operation.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
