1. Reasons
for Enactment
The
Amendment aims to enhance the professionalism, stability, and transparency of
trademark examination support services by clarifying various requirements
associated with trademark examination service participation, strengthening
competition when allocating jobs, and prescribing requirements and obligations
concerning preliminary trademark investigations for preferential examinations.
2. Major
Provisions
A. Clearly
prescribe staffing requirements to participate in each segment (investigation
and analysis, classification, etc.) of trademark examination support services
(Article 19)
B. Clarify
eligibility requirements for specialized institutions (hereinafter
“institutions”) to participate in the trademark investigation service
competency evaluation (Article 20-2)
C.
Strengthen quality competition between institutions by modifying the method of
allocation of investigation jobs; maintain the current allocation method for
classification jobs (Article 22, Article 22-2)
1)Modify
provisions so that jobs are assigned in order of rankings from the quality
evaluation and competency evaluation (Article 22 (1) and (3))
2)Allocate
a certain percentage of the previous year’s volume to institutions that
participated in the previous year (Article 20 (4))
3)2Prescribe
that those institutions ranked in the lowest 10% for quality for two years may
be excluded from the service, and stipulate a maximum job limit (Article 22
(5))
4)Introduce
penalties against behaviors that may undermine quality, such as the use of
unqualified investigators (Article 22 (7))
D.
Prescribe eligibility requirements and obligations for institutions that carry
out preliminary trademark investigations for preferential examinations (Article
31, Article 32)
1)Prescribe
that an institution that carries out preliminary trademark investigations for
preferential examinations shall have prior service experience or pass a
competency evaluation (Article 31)
2)Prescribe
quality assurance obligations in relation to preliminary trademark investigations
for preferential examinations, and introduce penalties against non-compliance
(Article 32)
