This time, only with ruby, a grape trademark dispute erupts in South Korea

As Ishikawa Prefecture of Japan is taking legal action to secure exclusive rights to the high-quality grape variety ‘Ruby Roman’ in Korea, domestic seed producers are moving to invalidate the ‘Ruby Roman’ trademark, drawing attention to its background and prospects. Our newspaper has confirmed that the Korea Fruit Seed Association recently filed a trademark registration invalidation trial for ‘Ruby Roman’ with the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board through a patent attorney. The grape variety, which Ishikawa Prefecture developed in 2007 after more than a decade of research, is written in Japanese and English as ‘ルビーロマン’ and ‘ruby roman’ respectively. In Korea, it is commonly called ‘Ruby Roman.’ However, in Korea, Mr. A applied for the trademark for this variety under the names ‘Ruby Roman’ and ‘Ruby Roman’ and acquired it on September 5, 2019 and September 9, 2020, respectively. Since then, Mr. A has reportedly been exercising his rights by sending warning letters to ...