BTS's label Big Hit Entertainment is reportedly in the middle of a legal battle with a cosmetics company over the trademark registration issues involving the name of 'BTS'. Reports said Big Hit Entertainment had filed a trademark invalidation lawsuit against the cosmetics company named 'Dreams Korea' that owns the rights for the trademark of the name B.T.S.
Dreams Korea owns BTS brand?
According to reports, the cosmetics company owns the brand 'Back to Sixteen' which deals with perfumes and BB cushions. In August 2015, the company registered the trademark B.T.S, a shortened version of their brand's campaign 'Back to Sixteen', which will expire in September 2025.
Reports state that the company had filed the application for trademark in October 2014, which is after BTS's debut in 2013. Though the brand name in trademark application had 'B.T.S' with dots, the brand's product labels is written as 'BTS' without the dots.
As a result of which, when Big Hit Entertainment filed a trademark application for 'BTS' in trademark Class 3 (cosmetics) in 2018, the application was rejected in April this year stating that it was very similar Dreams Korea's trademark 'B.T.S'.
Boy Band agency seeks trial
Following this, the boy band's agency had requested for a trademark trial against the cosmetics company and asked them to cancel their trademark registration. On October 17, 2019, Big Hit Entertainment and L&P Cosmetic filed a trademark invalidation lawsuit against Dreams Korea as BTS is the brand model for Mediheal, which is owned by L&P Cosmetic.
Meanwhile, Soompi quoted a source from Dreams Korea as saying: "It says 'Back to Sixteen' on the bottom of the labels, so it should not be a problem. We bought the URL for 'Back to Sixteen' in 2012. It's a brand that existed without any relation to BTS boy band."
Dreams Korea ready to defend
The source added: "The brand was not well-known domestically because it was created with a focus on exporting, but after BTS became famous, Big Hit Entertainment filed a trademark lawsuit against us. We are actively taking counter-measures because we believe this is unjust."
