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Samsung Electronics Files Trademark for 'Jet Fit', Identical to Chinese Brand Dibea's Vacuum

[비즈한국] Samsung Electronics005930 filed a trademark application for 'Jet Fit' for use on vacuum cleaners and other products in October. The issue, however, is that the Chinese appliance company Dibea has been selling a cordless vacuum cleaner under the name 'JET FIT' in the domestic market since July of this year. Experts believe that a legal dispute between the two companies is unlikely, given that Dibea’s product is not a widely known trademark and Samsung Electronics already holds rights to similar names.

Samsung Electronics filed the ‘Jet Fit’ trademark on October 16. The designated products include robotic vacuum cleaners, electric vacuum cleaners and their parts, vacuum cleaners, vacuum cleaner bags, and brushes for vacuum cleaners.

Dibea is a Chinese appliance company whose products are distributed in Korea by the lifestyle appliance firm NowHome. NowHome launched Dibea's hair dryer under the name ‘PURE JET’ last December, followed by the ‘JET FIT’ cordless vacuum in July. However, the term ‘JET FIT’ has not been registered as a trademark in Korea. Neither NowHome nor Dibea has released an official statement regarding Samsung Electronics' trademark filing.

Samsung Electronics states that it has no plans for legal action against Dibea. A Samsung Electronics official explained, “We filed for ‘Jet Fit’ based on our pre-existing rights, as we already held the ‘Jet Fit Brush’ trademark. Unless they launch new models after our trademark registration is complete, we have no plans to challenge products already on the market.”

In fact, Samsung Electronics previously filed for ‘Jet Fit Brush,’ ‘Jet 60 Fit,’ ‘Jet 70,’ and ‘Jet 75’ under trademark category 07 in 2020. Samsung has been selling vacuum cleaners under these names internationally. While this filing comes five years after those initial registrations, Samsung has not disclosed plans for launching a ‘Jet Fit’ vacuum cleaner. On October 17, Samsung applied for priority examination of the ‘Jet Fit’ trademark. Priority examination is granted in cases such as an imminent product launch or an instance of trademark infringement.

The possibility of Samsung’s ‘Jet Fit’ trademark being registered appears high. Yoon Shin-woo, a head patent attorney at BizN Patent & Law Firm, explained, “Dibea’s JET FIT is not registered as a trademark in Korea, and its short period of sales makes it difficult to claim significant brand recognition. Unless the Dibea JET FIT is a widely recognized global trademark, Samsung Electronics is likely to succeed in its registration. If the examiner were to determine that Samsung filed the trademark for bad-faith purposes, it could be rejected, but even then, Samsung could likely overcome this by pointing to its existing, prior-registered ‘Jet Fit’ line of trademarks.”

Experts believe that even if Samsung Electronics does not register the ‘Jet Fit’ trademark, there is a possibility that Dibea may have infringed on Samsung’s existing trademark rights. Kong Woo-sang, head patent attorney at Kong & You Patent Law Firm, analyzed, “It appears likely that Samsung will secure the trademark. Unless Dibea’s JET FIT has overwhelming market awareness, the Intellectual Property Office has no grounds to reject the application even if it was filed later. This is independent of the ‘Jet Fit Brush’ trademark Samsung already holds. Of course, Samsung could pursue legal action against Dibea based on its existing trademarks. Even in the current situation where the ‘Jet Fit’ trademark has not yet been registered, there is a possibility that Dibea has already infringed upon Samsung’s trademark rights.”