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On April 2, 2025, Bizhankook reported that JYP Entertainment won a trademark lawsuit to protect Stray Kids' character brand, SKZOO. The dispute began when the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) rejected JYP's trademark application, citing similarities with SK Group's trademarks.
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For those unversed, JYP Entertainment filed for the SKZOO trademark in March 2022. However, the Korean Intellectual Property Office terminated the application in August 2022, claiming it was similar to SK Group's registered trademarks. The office stated that the words 'SKZOO' featured the important letters 'SK,' which phonetically remained similar to SK Group's trademarks, which could have created potential confusion among the consumers.
In response, the record label stated that the words 'SKZ' in SKZOO were derived from the Stray Kids' group name, and ZOO stood for their animal characters. It was a meaningful name for the eight-member group.
The attorney, Yoon Shin-woo, mentioned that the court understood the significance of Stray Kids' international activities and the case related to SKZOO
The court stated that the two trademarks SKZOO and SK Group (SK Inc) were clearly distiguishable in pronunciation, concept, and outer appearance. They clearly mentioned that the consumers would not get confused between the two brands.
Hence, they rejected Korean Intellectual Property Office's appeal. Subsequently, JYP Entertainment was succeeded in registering SKZOO's trademark under Class 25 on January 22, 2025.
Subsequently, patent attorney BIZN IP & Law Firm stated that the court has understood the significance of Stray Kids' activities and mentioned, as translated by allkpop:
"The court acknowledged Stray Kids' extensive international activities, the fact that their music videos had surpassed 100 million views, and their widespread media coverage. Based on this, the court determined that SKZOO would naturally be pronounced as 'SKIZOO' rather than 'SK-JOO,' which was a key factor in overturning IPTAB’s decision. The established recognition of SKZOO played a decisive role in the final ruling."
For those unversed, SKZOO is a brand introduced by Stray Kids. The eight members of the band, including Bang Chan, Felix, Hyunjin, Han, Changbin, Seungmin, I.N., and Lee Know, are represented by an animal/cartoon character.
In recent news, the group released its first mixtape, Hop, on December 13, 2024, through JYP Entertainment. The band featured 12 tracks, including Walkin on Water, Bounce Back, U (feat. Tablo), Walkin on Water (Hip version), Railway, Unfair, Youth, Hallucination, So Good, Hold My Hand, Ultra, and As We Are.
