"An adverse effect on the actor's image"...Suzy's agency 'dismisses' lawsuit filed with former Afreeca TV

OSEN

A request for a provisional injunction against infringement, including trademark rights, was rejected by Management Forest, which includes actress Suzy and others.

According to the legal community on the 7th, the 60th Civil Agreement Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Judge Lim Hae-jeong) rejected a request for an injunction against trademark infringement filed by Management Forest against Internet broadcasting platform SOOP (formerly Africa TV) on the 4th.

As a result, Forest Co., Ltd. will be able to use the new trademark.

The court acknowledged that the two were similar, but judged that it was difficult to see that they were closely related to each other's business.

The court ruled, "There is room for creditors and debtors to be similar," but added, "The creditors are producing and uploading video contents dealing with their celebrities on the Internet, but this is incidental to the creditor's celebrity manager business."

He added, "It is difficult to say that the celebrity manager business and the live streaming platform operation business operated by the debtor are closely related to each other."

Management Forest's claim that there is a possibility of confusion was also not accepted. The court explained, "The data submitted by creditors alone is not enough to say that the name is remarkably widely known or that there is a great concern about reverse confusion for creditors."

Earlier in March, Afreeca TV decided to change its name to SOOP (Forest Co., Ltd.) at its regular shareholders' meeting and completed the stock change listing, and also changed its domestic service name to SOOP.

In response, Management Forest said, "We have used the name forest since its establishment in April 2011 and have trademarks such as SOOP," adding, "African TV has violated our trademark rights and trade rights."

"If African TV continues to act like this, the reputation and credit we have built up will be damaged, the image of our actors will be negatively affected, and these damages cannot be recovered afterwards," he said in June.

Meanwhile, Suzy, actors Gong Yoo, Gong Hyo-jin, Kim Jae-wook, Seo Hyun-jin, Jeon Do-yeon, Jeong Yu-mi, and Nam Ji-hyun belong to the management forest.

Reporter Lee Yu Na from Digital News Team.