The judgment below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Patent Court.

The grounds of appeal are examined (to the extent of supplement in case of supplemental appellate briefs not timely filed).

1. The purport of Article 7(1)12 of the former Trademark Act (amended by Act No. 10811, Jun. 30, 2011; hereinafter “former Trademark Act”) is that a trademark recognized as indicating the goods of a specific person by domestic or foreign consumers (hereinafter “trademark subject to reproduction”) is not registered in the Republic of Korea, and thus, a third party’s registration is not permitted to obtain unjust profits by taking advantage of the business reputation, etc. embodied in the trademark subject to reproduction, or by taking advantage of the trademark’s business reputation, etc., such as impairing the value of the trademark subject to reproduction or hindering the domestic business operation of the right holder of the trademark subject to reproduction.

Therefore, if a registered trademark falls under this provision, it should be recognized as a trademark of a specific person among domestic or foreign users, and the applicant of the registered trademark should use the trademark identical or similar to the trademark subject to reproduction for unlawful purposes.

(see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 201Hu3896, May 9, 2013). Whether a trademark subject to reproduction is recognized as a specific person’s trademark among domestic or foreign consumers ought to be determined based on the period of use, method, mode, scope of use, etc. of the trademark, or whether the trademark was known to the extent objectively and objectively reasonable under the ordinary social norms or transaction circumstances.

(see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 2013Hu2460, Feb. 13, 2014). Whether an applicant for a registered trademark has unlawful purpose is the degree of recognition or creativity of a specific person’s trademark, the degree of similarity between a specific person’s trademark and an applicant’s trademark, the existence of negotiations surrounding the trademark between the applicant and the specific person.