Samsung’s Application to Register ‘HDR10' Trademark Still Pending in Korea

Samsung's application to register "HDR10" as a trademark remains actively pending in its native South Korea, say records of the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service. Samsung filed the Korean application (serial number 4020170030838) March 9, virtually the same date it filed similar applications to register HDR10 at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the EU Intellectual Property Office (see 1703140049), the records show. Samsung pulled its PTO application about three weeks after filing it there (see 1704100061), but let the application stand at the EUIPO, which initially cleared it for approval. EUIPO, acting on an LG protest that HDR10 is a generic term that’s in widespread industry use, later reversed its decision, forcing Samsung to pull the application weeks before the opening of the IFA show in Berlin (see 1708230030). Samsung didn’t comment Friday. Samsung’s applications to register the trademark “HDR10 PLUS” remain actively pending with Korean, EU and U.S. trademark authorities, albeit with a different spelling than the “HDR10+” platform that Samsung, Fox and Panasonic said just before IFA that they plan to begin licensing as an open, royalty-free high dynamic range standard with dynamic metadata in 2018 (see 1708280018). The three companies said they will try licensing the HDR10+ platform under a different name.