April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] LG Household and Health Care on July 30 won a trademark lawsuit against SM Entertainment for using a brand name that is close to its own cosmetics brand.

A Seoul court ruled that SM should stop selling products under the brand name “SUM,” saying the name infringed the trademark rights of the LG affiliate’s “su:m.”

The cosmetics and personal care product maker launched the high-end brand  su:m 37 in 2007, selling the products through department stores and duty-free shops. The company also opened brand shops in Japan in 2012 and China last year.

In the meantime, SM has used the name for its celebrity shop that sells products bearing the images of popular K-pop artists and actors since 2015.

SM has claimed that the two brands are pronounced differently as “soom” and “some” in Korean and are targeting different users. SUM targets mostly teenagers who are big fans of K-pop. 

The court, however, dismissed the claim, saying there was not much difference and it is also difficult for consumer to distinguish the two brands.

SM plans to appeal the lower court’s decision and pay a deposit of 450 million won (US$401,000) to delay the court’s sales suspension order until the next ruling.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)