IP ministry holds franchise industry forum to hear concerns over overseas squatting, copycat stores
Securing trademark rights must be the top priority for K-franchise brands expanding overseas.
The Korea Intellectual Property Office held a forum Wednesday to drive home that message, gathering franchise industry representatives for a roundtable on global expansion challenges.
Domestic food-service franchise brands have been rapidly expanding abroad on the back of the global K-food wave. As of 2025, 122 South Korean food-service companies operate in 56 countries, running 139 brands across 4,644 stores — a 24.8 percent increase in overseas outlets over the past five years.
As overseas expansion accelerates, so do intellectual property risks. Because brand names, signage and packaging design are core assets for franchise businesses, unauthorized trademark squatting — where local brokers or prospective partners file to register a Korean company's mark before it does — and copycat stores mimicking brand names, signs and store concepts have become increasingly common.
The forum covered strategies for registering franchise trademarks both at home and abroad, approaches to securing trademark rights before entering foreign markets, ways to prevent IP risks such as squatting and copycat operations, and how the franchise industry can use the government's K-brand certification system.
"For K-franchise brands to establish a stable foothold in global markets, swiftly securing overseas intellectual property rights and preventing disputes is paramount," Korea Intellectual Property Office Commissioner Kim Yong-seon said. "We will faithfully reflect the on-the-ground opinions raised at this forum in our policy and actively support the strengthening of K-franchise competitiveness worldwide."
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
