[Y Focus] New Jeans → Team name change to ‘New Jeans’? A legal tightrope walk that is dizzying to watch.

There is a possibility that the group NewJeans, which insisted on terminating its exclusive contract with its agency Adore, will change its team name due to the recently opened SNS.

On the 14th, New Jeans opened a new SNS channel called 'Jeanzforfree' and posted an image of the symbolic animal, a rabbit, wearing a cone hat to convey a happy birthday message to former CEO Min Hee-jin. Previously, they performed at the Japanese mixed group Yoasobi's concert in Korea without directly mentioning their team name, and some analyzed that this was a measure to avoid unnecessary legal disputes with their agency Adore.

However, with the opening of the 'Jeans For Free' channel on this day, some speculated that New Jeans was trying to make a new start with the name 'New Jeans', changing only one letter from the team name. There is also a view that rather than dragging out the trademark dispute for a long time, the company chose an easier and quicker solution by changing the name to ‘New Jeans.’

In relation to this, New Jeans has not officially announced its name change to ‘New Jeans’. So, if they choose to change their name to ‘New Jeans’, will it actually have legal effect? To conclude, the common opinion of legal experts is that it is impossible to operate under ‘New Jeans’ under trademark law.

Attorney Kim Tae-hwan, an intellectual property expert at Daeryun Law Firm, told YTN, "First of all, the trademark rights related to New Jeans belong to Adore Co., Ltd. In addition to the English mark, Adore has not applied for trademark rights for the Korean mark 'New Jeans', but since the identity and similarity of the name are important judgment criteria, it is highly likely that 'New Jeans' will also be judged as an infringement."

Attorney Kim then explained, "In general, if Newgenes is a 'third party' unrelated to Adore, there is a high possibility that infringement will be recognized if Adore claims trademark infringement. It seems necessary to further confirm whether Newgenes used this name without any consideration or decided to use it with hidden intentions."

He also paid attention to the lawsuit filed by Adore to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract. Attorney Kim predicted, "If Adore wins, New Jeans will become Adore's affiliated singers, so the issue is whether they can be considered a 'third party' in the trademark infringement claim. Conversely, if the exclusive contract is confirmed invalid, New Jeans members will appeal that their existence was a measure taken to prevent them from being unable to perform for a long time due to a long legal battle."

In particular, Attorney Kim diagnosed the current situation, saying, "If New Jeans loses the above confirmation lawsuit, if it has been confirmed that it belongs to Adore, it will have to return as a singer under its label. If it continues its activities despite the ruling, it will have to pay a huge penalty for violating its contract as a singer under its label. In addition, Adore can also request a ban on activities related to its exclusive contract, so it appears that it will not be possible to continue its activities as a singer depending on the legal judgment."

In this way, New Jeans is taking steps that require legal action, including notifying the termination of the exclusive contract through an emergency press conference, activities after the conference, and rumors of a change in the team name due to the opening of a new SNS channel. When will New Jeans, who is walking a seemingly precarious tightrope, be able to return to being an ‘idol’ again?

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[Y Focus] New Jeans → Team name change to 'New Jeans'? A legal tightrope walk that is dizzying to watch (Shortcut)