Owner review 17: clearance of Mokoji (모꼬지) and Andamiro (안다미로) (2026-10-13)
Status: Draft · Date: 2026-10-13 · A knock-out search, not legal advice and not a full clearance. Methods follow review 15 trademarks and review 16 domains. Research, no decision.
Owner, review 17 (2026-10-13). "How about 모꼬지? 안다미로?"
Spelling fixed by the owner afterwards: "Mokoji" in English and 모꼬지 in Korean. Mokoji is therefore the primary Latin spelling below. Mokkoji (the Revised Romanization) is covered only as a sound-alike. Calls made after that message were paced 8 s apart; the earlier calls were paced 3 to 5 s.
Verdicts
| Word | Verdict | Best spelling | Main reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 모꼬지 (Mokoji; Mokkoji as sound-alike) | Blocked | Mokoji (the owner's choice). It is the cleaner Latin string, but it does not clear the Hangul. | Two identical pending Korean marks in classes 9 and 35 (FINGATE, filed 2026), one pending in class 41, one registered in 38 (online communities), and three gathering or event apps with this exact name on the KR App Store. Also descriptive of the service ("a gathering"). |
| 안다미로 (Andamiro) | Blocked | None. | Andamiro Co., Ltd. (Pump It Up) holds the identical word, registered, in class 9 in KR, EU, GB, US and about 10 other offices. An identical EU word mark in class 42 is held by NHN Entertainment. A Korean study cafe holds a registered class 41 mark and a live app. The word is arbitrary, but it is taken. |
1. Meanings
| Word | Meaning (우리말샘) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 모꼬지 | 「명사」 놀이나 잔치 또는 그 밖의 일로 여러 사람이 모이는 일. Also 모꼬지하다 (verb). | https://opendict.korean.go.kr/search/searchResult?query=모꼬지 (1 headword, 일반어; none marked 북한어) |
| 안다미로 | 「부사」 담은 것이 그릇에 넘치도록 많이. An adverb, pronounced with a long first vowel (안ː다미로). | https://opendict.korean.go.kr/search/searchResult?query=안다미로 (1 headword, 일반어; none marked 북한어) |
I read 우리말샘 only. I did not open 표준국어대사전 separately, so whether each word is also a headword there is not confirmed.
English Wiktionary has a page for 모꼬지 only ("party"; en.wiktionary.org/w/api.php?...titles=모꼬지). It has no page for mokkoji, mokoji or andamiro.
2. Trademarks
2.1 Services and limits
| Service | Result | Query (re-runnable) |
|---|---|---|
| KIPRIS | Worked, 5 s between calls, HTTP 200 on every call. | GET https://www.kipris.or.kr/khome/search/searchResult.do?tab=trademark with a cookie jar, then POST https://www.kipris.or.kr/kdtj/grrt1000a.do?method=searchTM with queryText=<hangul>&expression=<hangul>&sortField=RANK&sortState=Desc¤tPage=<n>&numPerPage=30. |
| TMview | Worked, HTTP 200. Latin queries mokkoji, mokoji, andamiro. | POST https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/api/search/results, browser User-Agent, Origin: https://www.tmdn.org, Referer: https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/, body {"page":"1","pageSize":"100","criteria":"C","basicSearch":"<latin>","fNiceClass":["9","35","41","42"],"fTMStatus":["Registered","Filed"]}. |
| USPTO | Worked, HTTP 200. | POST https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/prod-stage-v1-0-0/tmsearch, {"query":{"bool":{"must":[{"match":{"wordmark":{"query":"<latin>"}}}],"filter":[{"term":{"alive":true}}]}},"size":100}. |
Limits:
- KIPRIS read by rank, not exhaustively. 모꼬지: 60 of 81 rows read (pages 1 and 2). 안다미로: 90 of 224 rows read (3 pages). A further live exact mark could sit below the read rows.
- Sound-alike (칭호) only partly tested. Searched were the spellings 모꼬지 and 안다미로. 모코지 (the plain-consonant sound) was not searched in KIPRIS.
- TMview class filter was 9, 35, 41, 42 only. I did not run a class 28 filter for 안다미로 (see 2.3 for the US class 28 entry that came up anyway). The Nice classes of KR marks come from the KIPRIS similarity codes: G = goods, S = services; S01 = advertising and business (35), S06/S07 = telecom (38), S12 = education, entertainment and food service (41, 43).
- Goods text was read to about 60 to 900 characters per row.
- WIPO Global Brand Database and JPO not tried.
2.2 모꼬지 and Mokoji (Mokkoji as sound-alike)
Live exact (or 모꼬지 plus a Latin gloss) Korean marks, from KIPRIS:
| Mark | Status | Owner | Application no. | Goods and services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 모꼬지 (Moggoji) | Pending (출원) | 주식회사 핀게이트 (FINGATE) | 4020260087582 | Class 35: PR and event marketing, organising events and exhibitions. |
| 모꼬지 (Moggoji) | Pending (출원) | 주식회사 핀게이트 | 4020260087575 | Class 9: software for multi-user access to global networks, business management software, data processing, messaging software. |
| 모꼬지 | Pending (출원) | 이영진 | 4020250198472 | Class 41: children's experience education, culture courses, baking classes, seminars, events and contests, cooking instruction. |
| 모꼬지 | Registered (등록) | 주식회사 더블루아워 | 4020220071686 | Class 38 (S06/S07): mobile and internet video transmission, chat rooms and forums, social network access, online virtual communities, smartphone community apps. |
| 모꼬지 (moggoji) | Registered | 한승표 | 4020250058115 | Class 35: retail of wood, porcelain and plastic sculptures. |
| 모꼬지 | Registered | 김희순 | 4120110017067 | Class 43: restaurants. |
| 모꼬지 | Registered | 오뚜기라면 지주 | 4019960025473 (and two siblings) | Class 29/30 foods (noodles, tofu). |
Also live and containing the word: 모꼬지카츠 (restaurant, published), 모꼬지농원 (apples), 모꼬지댕 (pet shop, dog cafe), 모꼬지에 SINCE 1991 (food retail), 모꼬지방 (hair salon), 다모꼬지 아구찜 (restaurant). Of 47 rows containing the word, 17 are live (12 registered, 4 pending, 1 published).
Other offices (TMview):
| Office | Mark | Status | Classes | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN | MOKKOJI | Registered | 35 | 崔花也 |
| VN | MOKKOJI | Filed | 35, 30 | Jooan Global Corp. |
| KR | 모꼬지 | Filed | 41 | 이영진 (same as above) |
| US | MOKKOJI SHABU SHABU BAR | Registered (two) | 43 | Mokkoji Restaurant Group / Mokkoji Group |
- Mokoji (Latin, primary). KIPRIS
mokoji: 1 row in total, not a live mark of that name. KIPRIS 모코지 (the plain-consonant Hangul): no exact mark; the nearest are 모코랑 (pending), 모코리 (pending) and 세모코지 (abandoned), none in our field. TMview: no mark. USPTO: one pending MOKOJI, class 28, The Cookie Company Brands B.V. (toys, games, party supplies; non-final action mailed). That is not one of our classes. - EU. No mokkoji or mokoji word mark in classes 9, 35, 41 or 42 on TMview.
- US. No mokkoji or mokoji mark in classes 9, 35, 41 or 42. The two Mokkoji marks are restaurant services (class 43).
Reading. In Korea the Hangul name is the product name, and three pending or registered marks sit on top of the classes an app would use (9, 35, 41 and the community-network class 38). FINGATE's class 9 and 35 filings are 2026 filings for an event-operations platform, which is the same field as a club or pickup scheduling app. KIPO compares by sound, so a different Latin spelling does not clear the Hangul. The Latin side (US, EU) is open; the Korean side is not.
Distinctiveness (my reading, for a 변리사 to confirm). 모꼬지 means "a gathering of people" (see 1). For club, event, matchmaking or community services in classes 35, 38 and 41, KIPO would likely read it as descriptive of the service or its purpose (성질 표시, 상표법 제33조 제1항 제3호), or at best as a weak mark with a narrow scope. The word is common vocabulary, not a coinage. The register already shows many owners in unrelated trades (food, retail, salon), which is how arbitrary uses look, but the owners in our field would be the ones to cite against us. The USPTO doctrine of foreign equivalents is less of a risk, because few examiners would translate a rare Korean word.
2.3 안다미로 and Andamiro
The known suspect: Andamiro Co., Ltd. (주식회사 안다미로). It is a South Korean arcade-game producer. Wikipedia says it renamed from 옥산전자 on 20 September 1999 and launched Pump It Up that day (ko.wikipedia.org 안다미로; en.wikipedia.org Pump It Up). Pump It Up is a five-panel dance-pad music game sold in arcades, "primarily in North America, South America, and Europe" and in part of Oceania; the latest version listed is Pump It Up 2026 Phoenix 2, released 9 July 2026 in Korea and 20 July 2026 abroad. The company site is andamiro.com ("Creating Joy For All", with U.S./Canada, Global, Chinese and Japanese versions). It is a niche but real international brand: English Wikipedia has a World Pump Festival article, and the company itself has no article of its own.
Marks held by the company (TMview, KIPRIS, USPTO):
| Office | Mark | Status | Classes | Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KR | 안다미로 (ANDAMIRO) | Registered | 9 (games, software, slot machines, amusement machines, coin-operated, computers; G3002, G3402, G3404, G390701, G390802 and others) | 4020000027199, 4020000028940 |
| US | ANDAMIRO (design plus words) | Registered and renewed | 9 alive; 3, 8, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28 and 41 (amusement arcade services) are cancelled | 76180652 (filed 2000, registered 2002) |
| EU | ANDAMIRO (figurative) | Registered | 9 | 001828631 |
| GB | ANDAMIRO (figurative) | Registered | 9 | UK00901828631 |
| CN, AU, MX, PE, PY, TH, MY, EG, IN | ANDAMIRO | Registered | 9 (CN also has a class 42 mark, owned by NHN Corporation) | e.g. CN 1678269, AU 848872 |
An identical word mark held by NHN. EUTM 017933067 and UK00917933067, word mark "Andamiro", owner NHN Entertainment Corporation, classes 9, 36 and 42, registered January 2019. CN 32432381 (class 42) is held by NHN Corporation. I did not trace how NHN relates to Andamiro Co., so I record it only as a registered identical mark in class 42 in the EU, which is one of our four classes.
Other live Korean marks for 안다미로. Of 69 rows containing the word, 18 are live. Relevant ones:
| Mark | Owner | Status | Classes and goods |
|---|---|---|---|
| 안다미로 스터디카페 | 심한밀 | Registered | Class 41: reading rooms, libraries, business education (4020220193369) |
| andamiro study cafe | 심한밀 | Registered | Class 41 (TMview, 4020220193371) |
| 안다미로 | (주)안다미로 (not traced to Andamiro Co.) | Registered | Class 16: books and teaching materials (4020120068628) |
| 안다미로 (Andamiro) | 에프아이투씨트레이딩 | Registered | Class 43: tourist accommodation, hostels, resort hotels |
| 안다미로 and 안다미로 한우 | 주식회사 백제축산 and others | Registered | Beef retail, shopping mall, restaurants (several) |
| 안다미로 식탁 | 주식회사 안다미로 식탁 | Pending | Class 35: side dish and sauce wholesale and retail |
| 안다미로 (ANDAMERO) | 유대균 | Registered | Class 33: alcoholic drinks |
| (others) | various | Registered | Massage and beauty, fishing gear, herbicides, logistics machines, cosmetics |
Reading. The word is arbitrary for tennis and clubs, which is the strongest kind of mark, but the field is taken in three ways: (1) the identical Hangul and Latin word is registered in class 9 in Korea, the EU, the UK and the US, with software and game goods overlapping a mobile app; (2) an identical word mark is registered in the EU in class 42 (NHN); (3) a Korean study cafe holds a class 41 registration (the US class 41 entry of Andamiro Co. is cancelled). A famous or well-known mark also reaches beyond its own class under Korean and EU dilution rules, and Pump It Up gives the mark real reputation in games. That makes Andamiro a Blocked name.
3. App stores
Queries: https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=<term>&country=<us|kr|jp>&entity=software&limit=25 (3 s apart); Google Play https://play.google.com/store/search?q=<term>&c=apps&gl=<kr|us>&hl=<ko|en> plus the detail page of the one candidate. Google Play results are rendered with script and only partly readable, so I confirm only what the page text shows.
| Term | iOS US | iOS KR | iOS JP | Google Play KR / US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 모꼬지 | "모꼬지 - 우리끼리 추억" (Social, 0 ratings); "모꼬지, 행사의 시작" (Business, FINGATE) | Same two, plus "모꼬지 - 같이의 가치" (taegyu lee, Social Networking, 2 ratings, released 2026-02-13) | The same two | "모꼬지" by FINGATE (kr.co.moggoji.app, event operations platform) |
| mokkoji / Mokkoji (sound-alike) | none | none | none | none by that name |
| mokoji / Mokoji (primary) | "hair salon mokoji" (AYAKA TAKAMURA, 0 ratings) | none | same "hair salon mokoji" | none by that name |
| 안다미로 / Andamiro | "안다미로스터디카페" (Tobesmart, Education, 0 ratings) | same (2 ratings) | same | "안다미로스터디카페 / andamiro STUDYCAFE" (kr.co.tobesmart.dannian.andamiro) |
The three 모꼬지 apps are new (2026) and in our category:
- "모꼬지 - 같이의 가치" describes itself as 순우리말 for 여럿이 모여 즐기는 놀이 and offers "create a gathering, find gatherings by interest, schedule".
- "모꼬지 - 우리끼리 추억" plans meetups for friends, family and hobby clubs.
- FINGATE's app is the event-operations platform.
All have under 20 ratings, but they are related-category apps, so this is a block and not a condition under the review 16 rule. The web service mokkoji.kr (title "모꼬지 - 놀 땐 모꼬지", description "좋아하는 것으로 만나는 특별한 사람들") is a fourth gathering product under the same name.
4. Domains and handles
Commands as in review 16 domains. Run 2026-10-13, 3 s apart. Raw outputs: dom.out, han.out in the session scratchpad r17/.
| Check | mokkoji (sound-alike) | mokoji (primary) | andamiro |
|---|---|---|---|
| .com | taken (GoDaddy, 2019); page: "Mokkoji ... Launching Soon" | taken (GoDaddy, 2016); blank page | taken (Inames, 2000): Andamiro Co., Ltd., "Creating Joy For All" |
| .app | taken (Gabia, 2024); page titled 모꼬지, a single-page app | taken (Gabia, 2026); empty | free |
get<name>.com | free | free | free |
| .kr | taken: live site, "모꼬지 - 놀 땐 모꼬지" (gathering service) | free | taken (blank page) |
| .co.kr | taken | taken | taken |
| .io | free | free | free |
| .co | taken (NameSilo) | free | taken (Gabia) |
X <name> | taken (200) | free (404) | free (404) |
X <name>app | free | free | free |
YouTube @<name> | taken (200) | taken (200) | free (404) |
YouTube @<name>app | free | free | free |
| TikTok | not checked (page blocked; a made-up handle also returned no status) | not checked | not checked |
| Naver Blog | taken (a blog titled "mokkoji님의 블로그") | free | taken ("andamiro님의 블로그") |
The handle checks are weak (X and YouTube answer 200 for suspended or squatted names). Instagram and Threads not checked (login wall). Domains are not the constraint for either word; the trademark and store position decides.
5. Meaning and usage
5.1 모꼬지 in Korea
- As a common word. A very old pure-Korean word for a social gathering, still living in school and university language. Searching Korean Wikipedia for the word returns 온빛초등학교, which lists "온빛 모꼬지" as a spring school event, and 우리말샘 has 소모꼬지 for the 호미씻이 farm festival. Whether campus clubs still say 모꼬지 for MT in 2025 is not shown by what I found; treat it as a dated, slightly literary word. An Instagram or Naver check of current use was not done.
- As a name. It is used in many trades: 주식회사 모꼬지 is an animation studio (Go Go Dino, 상상꾸러기 꾸다, KBS; ko.wikipedia.org), a web drama is titled 모꼬지 치킨 (2021), plus restaurants, a pet shop, a hair salon, apples, noodles and a wooden-sculpture shop (all marks above). Three gathering apps launched in 2026 (see 3).
- Political or North Korean association. None found. 우리말샘 lists no 북한어 headword for it.
- Foreign readings.
- Latin Mokkoji: English Wiktionary glosses 모꼬지 as "party"; Urban Dictionary has a page for
mokkoji; I read only its title, not the entry, so that is unchecked. - Japanese: the closest ordinary word is もっこり (mokkori), a slang for a bulge; Mokkoji reads as a near rhyme to it, a risk worth a native check. Mokoji reads as a plausible Japanese surname and is used by a hair salon in Japan.
- Spanish and Italian: no word. Mokoji could be heard as "moco" (Spanish for mucus) plus "ji"; weak.
- Latin Mokkoji: English Wiktionary glosses 모꼬지 as "party"; Urban Dictionary has a page for
5.2 안다미로 in Korea
- As a common word. A plain pure-Korean adverb ("brimming over"), cheerful and generous. Heard by Koreans as a poetic old word, not an everyday one.
- As a name. Very common as a trade name: a study cafe chain, a beef brand (안다미로한우), a 반찬 shop, a hostel, a massage shop, a film company (영화사 안다미로, 2026 film listing), a defunct singer name (안다 formerly 안다미로; ko.wikipedia.org), a ballad group (안다미로, 티엔뮤직), and a Geenius girl-group member named Andamiro (HOMe, 2024). In the arcade world it means Pump It Up.
- Political or North Korean association. None found; no 북한어 headword.
- Foreign readings. English Wiktionary has no page. Spanish: "andamio" is scaffolding and "miro" is "I look", so an ear may hear "scaffold-look". Italian: "andamento" (course, trend) is close in sound. Japanese: no clash found. None is bad. Search results for Andamiro in English are almost entirely the arcade company.
6. Shape
Facts only; the taste call is the owner's.
| Word | Hangul syllables | Latin letters | Vowels | Consonants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 모꼬지 | 3 | Mokkoji 7; Mokoji 6 | a, i, o only, all on the allowed list | Tense ㄲ (the doubled k in Mokkoji; Mokoji drops the double and so changes the sound) |
| 안다미로 | 4 | Andamiro 8 | a, i, o only; the first syllable ends in ㄴ and the vowel is long | No tense consonant; a final -n in 안 |
- Review 16's target was two Hangul syllables and 3 to 6 Latin letters in CV-CV or CV-CVC. Neither word meets it: 모꼬지 is three syllables (Mokoji meets the letter count at 6), 안다미로 is four syllables and 8 letters.
- The tense ㄲ in 모꼬지 breaks the "no tense consonants" rule; the respelling Mokoji (모코지) is a different sound, so KIPO and Korean readers would not treat it as the same name for branding.
- Both are pure-Korean words with simple vowels that a non-Korean can say. Mokkoji is easy to mis-say as "mo-KO-ji"; Andamiro as "an-DA-mi-ro", with stress easy to place.
7. What the owner may still want
- 모꼬지: if the hunt for a gathering word continues, an unrelated word is safer than this one, because the word means the service and three products already use it. A local 변리사 could say whether FINGATE's pending class 9 and 35 filings would be refused or narrowed, but the app-store position does not change.
- 안다미로: the name is cheerful and fits "brimming over", but the Pump It Up company owns the exact word in class 9 across most of the world. Only a written consent or coexistence agreement with Andamiro Co. would open it.
- Neither is added to the board as a survivor.