According to Korea JoongAng Daily, a trademark registration for NJZ, the name that girl group NewJeans announced to have changed to for use since February 7, has been submitted to the Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO).
The two NJZ logos were found on the website of the Korea Intellectual Property Information Service (Kipris) on Thursday. According to information on the website, the application must be submitted from the 14th. 2 and related documents were submitted on February 23.
However, the patent has not yet been registered, which means that the Intellectual Property Office may refuse this registration.
According to the displayed information, the application was submitted by Lee Dong Uk in Sasang District, Busan.
However, Shin & Kim law firm, legal representative of 5 NJZ members (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Hyein), did not clarify who the trademark registration candidate was when asked by Korea JoongAng Daily.
The 5 female idols announced the group's new name as NJZ on February 7, through the organizers of the ComplexCon festival in Hong Kong (China). They will use this name to perform and release a new song at the festival taking place on March 23.
On February 27, after the Instagram account, the 5-member girl group continued to expand their reach to social media, launching a new account called NJZ on platforms X ( social media), YouTube and TikTok.
Not only that, the group also shared a short clip introducing the rabbit-shaped cookies (similar to the fandom Bunnies) that have been used as a representative photo for the NJZ account on various platforms.
The clip also makes fans curious about the style NJZ will show in their first music product, after they announced the termination of their exclusive contract with ADOR (under HYBE Group) at the end of November 2024.
The move to open an official account on many platforms shows that NJZ is ready to return to operation.
Meanwhile, the contract dispute between NewJeans and ADOR has not been resolved.
The ban application submitted by ADOR to prevent 5 members from signing independent trade contracts will be tried in court on March 7. The next trial on April 3 will resolve the issue of whether the contract between the two parties has been legally terminated or not.
Currently, NJZ has not announced to join a new management company.
There are rumors that the group will sign a contract with Beasts And Natives Alike (BANA) - the management company of two music producers 205 and FRNK, who collaborated with former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin to compose many hit songs for NewJeans such as "Attention", "Ditto", "Hype Boy", "Cookie", "OMG", "ETA", "Bubble Gum"...
However, on February 14, NJZ denied the rumor and confirmed that NJZ has not had any negotiations or signed any contracts with BANA.
