Owner review 13, lane C3: trademark clearance of Madang, Duri, Dodam, Oreum (2026-10-13)
Status: Draft · Date: 2026-10-13 · Lane C3 of owner review 13. A knock-out search, not legal advice and not a full clearance. Classes 9, 35, 41, 42 (45 only if the app grows a social network). Companions: review-12 rulings, Korean words.
Owner, review 13. "Oreum is also fine, I think. Can you research the 4 words to see if we can actually use them?"
0. Evidence tags and limits
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| S | Searched today (2026-10-13) through a public endpoint with curl. The query and count are recorded in section 1 so the owner can re-run it. |
| L | Legal rule from my own knowledge of the statutes. I could not fetch the KIPO 상표심사기준 or TMEP text, so these are not source-verified. |
| F | Fee read from a web page, cited in section 5. Several fees conflict between sources and are marked. |
What this is and is not.
- The search finds live, identical or contained marks in the four classes. It does not read each mark's goods list, so "same class" is not yet "same goods".
- Sound similarity (칭호) is tested only by spelling variants. A 변리사 must do the real phonetic search.
- Hangul and Latin spellings that sound the same are treated as the same mark, because KIPO judges by sound.
1. What was searched
| Service | Result | Query (re-runnable) |
|---|---|---|
| TMview (EUIPO, KIPO, etc.) | S, worked | POST https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/api/search/results, body {"page":"1","pageSize":"100","criteria":"C","basicSearch":"<word>","fNiceClass":["<9|35|41|42>"],"fTMStatus":["Registered","Filed"]}. It needs a browser User-Agent plus Origin and Referer headers. Run for 15 spellings x 4 classes, up to 4 pages each. |
| KIPRIS (KIPO) | S, worked for Hangul | POST https://www.kipris.or.kr/kdtj/grrt1000a.do?method=searchTM with queryText=<word>&expression=<word>, after a GET of the search page for cookies. Looked at the first 210 rows by rank for 마당, 두리, 도담, 오름. Counts: 마당 1,155; 두리 18,114; 도담 1,912; 오름 3,443 (all contain the word). It cannot filter by class here. |
| USPTO | S, worked | POST https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/prod-stage-v1-0-0/tmsearch, {"query":{"bool":{"must":[{"match":{"wordmark":"<word>"}}],"filter":[{"term":{"alive":true}}]}},"size":100}. Exact word-match counts: madang 2, duri 6, doori 2, dooree 2, duree 4, dodam 1, oreum 2, orum 6, oroom 0, oreom 0. |
| WIPO Global Brand Database | Not checked | The page serves an Altcha proof-of-work challenge, so curl gets no results. TMview already carries the EUIPO, KIPO, WIPO-Madrid and many national feeds. Manual: https://branddb.wipo.int, type the word, filter Nice classes 9, 35, 41, 42. |
| JPO (JPlatPat) | Not checked | Not tried. Japan appears in TMview only partly. Manual: https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp, 商標検索, the word in katakana (マダン, ドゥリ, ドダム, オルム) and Latin. |
Gaps in the data.
- TMview stops at 400 rows per class for very common strings (duri, orum, 둘이). Exact marks are listed first, but a miss is possible.
- 둘이 returned an error from TMview, so it was not searched. 둘이 is the spoken form of Duri and should be searched by hand.
- KIPRIS: only the top 210 by rank were read, and exact 마당 returned no live exact mark in that window. A live exact 마당 may sit further down. Re-run on the site.
- Manual KIPRIS path: https://www.kipris.or.kr, 상표 검색, type the word, then 지정상품 (류) 9 / 35 / 41 / 42 in the detailed search. Also search by 유사군 코드 for software (G390802, G390803) and for the services. Check the 지정상품 text of every live hit.
2. Live conflicts found (all S)
Only marks that are identical or the word as a whole mark, plus the closest compounds, are listed. "Filed" means pending: an earlier filing still beats us under first-to-file (L: 상표법 제35조).
| Word | Mark and owner | Classes | Status | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oreum/오름 | OREUM, 김진성, KR402025000033061 / 066 / 079 | 9, 35, 41 | Filed 2025 | Identical Latin mark, three of our four classes. First to file. Blocks or forces a deal. |
| Oreum | OREUM, 오웅, KR402026000151829 | 35 | Filed 2026 | A second, later pending OREUM. |
| Oreum | OREUM, Anass Ngadi, FR500000005136491 | 35 | Registered (France) | Blocks an EU/Madrid route in 35 until checked. |
| 오름 | 오름, 주식회사 오름, KR402017000132369 | 35 | Registered | Online-marketplace services; exact Hangul. |
| 오름 | 오름, 김기욱, KR402018000089911 | 35 | Registered | Exact Hangul, class 35. |
| 오름 | 오름업 (Filed 2026), 오름스타 (reg.), 오름차트 세나클소프트 (reg.), 주식회사 차오름소프트 (reg.) | 9, 42 | Mixed | Software marks with 오름 in them. Close in sound and class. |
| Dodam/도담 | DoDam, 김나령, KR402025000234388 | 9, 42 | Filed 2025 | Identical sound, our software classes. |
| Dodam | Dodam, 주식회사 도담, KR402022000180611; 도담, 김경주, KR412013000036272 | 35 | Registered | Identical, business-service class. |
| Dodam | dodam-MS and 도담엠에스, 주식회사 도담엠에스 | 9, 35 | Registered | Software class, near identical. |
| Dodam | 도담, 주식회사 케이앤지종합건설, KR402024000020348 | 42 | Registered | Design services, so likely a different good. Check. |
| Dodam | DODAM VITALITY, Hyundai Motor (US) | 30 | Filed (US) | Food class only. No conflict in US 9/35/41/42. |
| Dodam | 57 other class-35 marks containing 도담 (도담도담, 도담몰, 도담펫, 도담키즈, 메가도담 ...) | 35 | Mostly registered | A crowded field. 도담 is weak on its own in class 35. |
| Duri/Doori | DOORI, 김경아, KR402015000072119 and KR412015000046469 | 9, 35 | Registered | Sounds the same as Duri. Software and business class. |
| Duri/Doori | DOORI, 이병수, KR412011000014713 (35) and KR412009000029851 (42) | 35, 42 | Registered | Same word, SaaS class. |
| Duri | DURI, Duri.Tools Ltd, GB500000004123561 | 9, 35 | Registered (UK) | Likely software. Not EU, but a signal. |
| Duri | DURI, Duri Svenska AB, EM500000019233092 | 35 | Filed (EU) | Blocks the EU route in 35. |
| Duri/Doori | Doori, Magh und Boppert GmbH, EM500000019315384 | 42 | Registered (EU) | Blocks the EU route in 42. |
| 두리 | 두리, 프리젠트 주식회사, KR402019000154471 / KR402021000147549 / KR402021000147417; 두리, 아시아나항공, KR402019000196906 | 9 | Registered | Identical Hangul in class 9. The goods (infant scales, similar) may differ from app software. Must check. |
| 두리 | 두리, 두리화학 (35 Filed), 두리, 두리농산 (42, farm services) | 35, 42 | Mixed | Different trades, but same classes. |
| Madang | MADANG, Kim Man Geun, AR500000004579121 | 35 | Registered (Argentina) | Outside our markets. |
| Madang | E madang / 09 maDanG (봉성춘), OT MADANG (디엔디), AROUND MADANG (어라운드) | 35 | Filed / Registered | Latin MADANG with a prefix in KR class 35. Goods not read. Check. |
| Madang | CONTENTS MADANG, 주식회사 콘텐츠마당; MadangSpace, 주식회사 얼롱 | 9, 35 | Registered | The word as one half of a compound in the software class. |
| Madang | 마당발 / 우리 동네 마당발, 주식회사 필드서비스; 한마당 한컴; 상상마당 KT&G; 별마당 신세계프라퍼티; 통계마당; 앎마당; 배움마당 LG | 9, 35, 42 | Registered | All compounds. No identical live 마당 in the search window. Many co-exist, so 마당 is a diluted element. |
| Orum | ORUM, Orum Inc. (US500000090172410), Orum Therapeutics (US/EU/GB/CN), Project Midas (US) | 42 | Registered | Blocks the Orum respelling in class 42 in the US and EU. |
| Oroom | OROOM, Accommodation Žižkova (EM500000018509775) | 41 | Registered (EU) | Class 41 in the EU. Also CN 35/41. |
| Oreom | none found in 9/35/41/42 | - | - | Clear on paper, but sounds exactly like Oreum. |
The US exact-word search shows no live exact mark for madang, dodam (food only), oreum (bio, class 5; a convenience store, class 35 from a Korean applicant, 'OREUM 24 CONVENIENCE STORE', allowed), oreom or oroom in classes 9/35/41/42. Duri and Doori appear in 3, 11 and 21 only.
3. Registrability
None of these rules was fetched. They are from my knowledge of the Korean Trademark Act Art. 33(1) and the US/EU practice, and each needs a 변리사 to confirm (L).
Korea (KIPO)
- Art. 33(1) grounds that matter (L).
- No. 1: common name of the goods or services.
- No. 3: a mark that only describes the quality, use or purpose.
- No. 4: a conspicuous geographical name.
- No. 6: simple, common marks.
- No. 7: no other distinctiveness.
- Art. 34(1) No. 7 (L). A mark that is identical or similar to an earlier registered or pending mark for similar goods is refused. KIPO compares by sight, sound and meaning, and sound is enough.
- 마당 (L, judgement).
- The risk is a No. 1 or No. 3 refusal for class 41 and class 35 when the services are events, forums or gatherings. A 마당 is a venue for a gathering, so it could be called descriptive of "a place for club activity".
- For app software (class 9) and SaaS (class 42) the word is suggestive rather than descriptive.
- The many registered 마당 compounds (상상마당, 통계마당, 마당발) show KIPO accepts 마당 as part of a mark, not that it accepts it alone.
- 두리 (L). Not descriptive of a tennis app. A name with a plain meaning ("around") is registrable; the problem is the existing 두리/Doori marks, not distinctiveness.
- 도담 (L). Not descriptive. Registrable on its own, which is why so many have registered it.
- 오름 / Oreum (L).
- Geography. An 오름 is a type of landform on Jeju, not a named place. Art. 33(1) No. 4 covers a named place (제주). The common noun is not caught on that rule, but an examiner can still ask whether 오름 evokes Jeju for services connected to Jeju.
- Meaning. 오름 also means "rising". It is not descriptive of a tennis app.
- Result. Registrable on distinctiveness. The block is the prior filings in section 2.
United States (USPTO)
- Doctrine of foreign equivalents (L; TMEP §1209.03(g)). The USPTO translates a foreign word from a common modern language when the ordinary purchaser would stop and translate it. A search for the doctrine's current form found that the Federal Circuit in the 2024 VETEMENTS decision widened the "ordinary purchaser" to all US consumers who know the language, and put the burden on the applicant to show they would not translate (Knobbe Martens summary, cited in section 5). Korean is not a language most US purchasers translate, but the doctrine's reach is wider than before.
- Test against meaning. "Yard", "the two of us", "growing well" and "volcanic cone / rising" do not describe a tennis-club management app. The nearest risk is "yard", which could read as a place, but it describes no feature. None is likely to be refused as merely descriptive.
- Madang is also a city and province in Papua New Guinea. A geographic refusal needs a goods-place association, which is unlikely for software.
European Union (EUIPO) (L, judgement)
- The EUIPO judges a mark by the average consumer in the whole EU, and a Korean word with no meaning for most EU consumers is treated as invented. Descriptive refusals are unlikely for all four.
- A refusal can still come from an earlier EU mark (section 2: Duri, Doori, French OREUM) on opposition by that owner, not on the examiner's own motion.
4. Verdict per word and per class
| Word / spelling | KR 9 | KR 35 | KR 41 | KR 42 | US | EU | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madang / 마당 | Usable with conditions | Usable with conditions | Risky (descriptiveness) | Usable with conditions | Clear in our classes | Clear in our classes (not exhaustive) | Usable with conditions |
| Duri / Doori / 두리 | Risky | Blocked (Doori, Duri) | Usable with conditions | Blocked (Doori) | Clear in our classes | Blocked 35 and 42 (Svenska, Doori) | Risky; Blocked in 35 and 42 |
| Dodam / 도담 | Blocked (DoDam, filed 2025) | Blocked (Dodam, 도담) | Usable with conditions | Blocked (DoDam, filed 2025) | Clear in our classes | Clear in our classes (not exhaustive) | Blocked in KR 9, 35, 42 |
| Oreum / 오름 | Blocked (OREUM, filed 2025) | Blocked (OREUM x2, 오름 x2) | Blocked (OREUM, filed 2025) | Risky (오름 software marks) | Clear in our classes | Risky 35 (French OREUM) | Blocked in KR 9, 35, 41, unless the earlier filings are bought or lapse |
Reasons, short.
- Madang. No identical live mark in our classes in KR, US or EU. It exists only inside compounds, so the word is diluted and each compound's owner is unlikely to oppose. The one real worry is a 현저성/식별력 view of 마당 alone for events and information services (class 41, parts of 35). The Latin MADANG marks in KR class 35 (봉성춘, 디엔디, 어라운드) must be read for their goods.
- Duri. Several live DOORI/DURI/두리 marks in 9, 35 and 42, and Duri and Doori sound the same as 두리. Registered DOORI marks of 이병수 and 김경아 cover class 35 and class 42, which is our SaaS route.
- Dodam. A pending 2025 DoDam application in classes 9 and 42, which is our core, plus registered Dodam in 35. KIPO would cite these against us.
- Oreum. The owner's favourite has the weakest position. A 2025 OREUM application by 김진성 covers three of our four classes, and a 2026 application by 오웅 adds class 35. Because the first applicant wins (L: 제35조), our later filing would be refused unless they withdraw or sell. The prior art in section 2 for 오름 shows the same for Hangul.
Safest spelling.
| Word | Safest spelling | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Madang | Madang | No variant gains anything. The Hangul and Latin match the standard romanisation. |
| Duri | Duri | Doori and Duri sound the same to KIPO, so a respelling does not escape. Duree and Dooree show US marks in 14, 37, 10. |
| Dodam | Dodam | Same: no respelling escapes a sound comparison. |
| Oreum | Oreum | Oreom has no live mark but sounds identical. Orum has a registered ORUM in class 42 (US, EU). Oroom has EU class 41 and CN 35/41. None is safer than Oreum, and none removes the KR conflict. |
5. Next steps and costs
- Read the goods of the flagged marks. For Oreum and Dodam, open each KR number in KIPRIS and read 지정상품. If the goods are not software, club management or sports services, the conflict may drop. This costs nothing.
- Professional clearance by a 변리사 before filing. A typical bundled service lists a trademark search plus filing for one mark and one class at about 156,000 KRW including the official fee (one vendor price list, 헬프미 premium plan; a standalone search fee was not found). A search across four classes, three markets and sound-alikes from a full firm is a quote, not a list price. Ask for: 4 classes, KR first, then US and EU.
- KIPO filing.
- Official application fee per class, electronic: 52,000 KRW, with 2,000 KRW per good beyond ten in a class (KIPO fee page via search summary, effective 1 Aug 2023; another source quotes 46,000 KRW, a third 62,000 KRW, so confirm on the KIPO site).
- Registration fee: about 210,120 KRW per class at registration according to one 변리사 firm's guide (the 3-year figure; a 10-year figure was not found).
- Four classes = about 208,000 KRW at filing plus about 840,000 KRW at registration, at these figures.
- Madrid Protocol. Only after a Korean base application.
- WIPO basic fee: 653 CHF (black and white), 903 CHF (colour). The first three classes are included; each further class is 100 CHF (WIPO fee schedule in force 1 Feb 2023).
- US individual fee: 460 CHF per class from 12 April 2026 (down from 530) (WIPO information notice, 2026).
- Japan individual fee: about 221 CHF for the first class and 208 CHF per extra class from 12 April 2026 (WIPO notice; a trade summary gives 211 CHF for one class).
- EU individual fee: WIPO's table text reads 789 / 48 / 144 CHF (first, second, each further class), but this was read from a garbled snippet and is unverified. A direct EUIPO filing at EUR 850 for one class is a common figure that I did not confirm.
- US direct filing, if the owner prefers it to Madrid: 350 USD per class from 18 January 2025 (law-firm summaries below).
- Madrid caveat. For five years the international mark depends on the Korean base mark. If the base is refused or cancelled, all designations fall. With the Oreum and Dodam KR conflicts, that is a live risk.
- A 5-line decision rule. Pick the word with no KR conflict first (Madang). File the Hangul and Latin in classes 9, 35, 42 (41 only if the app sells events). Then extend to the US and EU through Madrid.
6. Recommendation
- Madang is the only one of the four that clears the knock-out search. Condition: a 변리사 confirms 마당 is not refused as descriptive in 41 and 35, and reads the goods of MADANG in KR class 35.
- Oreum, the owner's choice, is not usable on today's data in Korea, because of earlier OREUM filings in 9, 35 and 41. Reconsider only if those filings turn out to cover unrelated goods, or the applicants will assign or coexist.
- Duri and Dodam each have live marks in the classes that matter most (35, 42 for Duri; 9, 35, 42 for Dodam).
- Decision for the owner (one): go with Madang, or ask a 변리사 to read the goods of the OREUM, DoDam and DOORI marks (an hour's work) before dropping the other three.
7. Sources
- TMview API and site: https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/ (S).
- KIPRIS: https://www.kipris.or.kr (S).
- USPTO trademark search: https://tmsearch.uspto.gov (S).
- WIPO Global Brand Database: https://branddb.wipo.int (not checked).
- KIPO fee page: https://www.kipo.go.kr/en/HtmlApp?c=93006 (the page text did not load; figures from the search summary, so confirm).
- 변리사 fee and registration guides: https://www.help-me.kr/blog/article/상표출원비용/ and https://demoday.co.kr/tools/trademark-fee.
- Madrid fees: https://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/fees/sched.html (basic, supplementary); individual fees: https://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/fees/ ; Japan cut: https://marks-iplaw.jp/japan-individual-fee-madrid/ ; US cut to 460 CHF: https://www.wipo.int/documents/d/madrid-system/information-notices-en-2026-madrid_2026_21_e.pdf (matched by the search; not opened).
- US fees: https://www.fr.com/insights/thought-leadership/blogs/new-uspto-trademark-fees-go-into-effect-january-18-2025/ .
- Doctrine of foreign equivalents: https://www.knobbe.com/blog/not-lost-in-translation-federal-circuit-clarifies-application-of-the-doctrine-of-foreign-equivalents/ and https://www.rennerotto.com/resources/blog/that-other-doctrine-of-equivalents-the-trademark-one . The TMEP text itself did not load.
- Korean registrability background (secondary): https://www.help-me.kr/blog/article/지리적표장과_단체표장/ . The 상표심사기준 itself was not fetched.
8. Implementation
- No app code changes. If the owner picks a word, record it in
docs/design/owner-review-13-rulings-2026-10-13.mdwith the conflict table above. - Before any filing: read the goods of KR402025000033061, KR402025000033066, KR402025000033079, KR402025000234388, KR402022000180611, KR412011000014713, KR412009000029851, KR412015000046469, KR402015000072119 in KIPRIS.