Drug tteokbokki, drug gimbap, and from some point on, the number of products and restaurants with the word drug has increased.
However, we may not be able to see these signs in the future.
With the recent increase in drug crimes among teenagers, the government is considering regulating the use of names with "drugs."It means that it can be addictive because it is delicious, so teenagers can take drugs in a good sense by attaching "drugs" in front of tteokbokki or gimbap It was pointed out.
In fact, Korea's top 10 drug offenders soared 3.5 times in five years from 69 in 2017 to 309 last year, and a revision to the Food Labeling and Advertising Act was proposed by the National Assembly to prevent harmful drugs such as drugs from being used in front of food.
As the number of cases of advertising drugs in a good sense has increased, the Korean Intellectual Property Office has received 150 trademark applications containing drug names in the past five years, but the Korean Intellectual Property Office did not accept them because they hurt the customs.
"The Korean Intellectual Property Office has basically refused to register trademarks for names that contain terms such as drugs, opium, and marijuana."
When a trademark application was filed as a "drug pillow" in 2018, the Korean Intellectual Property Office and the Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal refused to register, but in 2019, the Korean Intellectual Property Court refused to reject the decision, saying it would harm public order or good customs.
In response to criticism that the revision of the law conflicts with existing precedents, the Patent Court said it expects the court to make a ruling in consideration of it.
I personally think such usage regulation law should consider both the individual's right to advertise and the social welfare created by such awareness. While I think, at this point, such strong regulation might be too abusive of individual rights, I also understand that the drug problem significantly increased in Korea. I hope the consensus soon comes out from the Patent Court and the Legislative Branch.
Writer: Michael Wu
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