According to Korean media, the members of NewJeans (Haerin, Hyein, Hanni, Minji, and Danielle) have announced that they will be leaving their management company ADOR, and revealed their new group name as NJZ.
The group announced their intention to continue working independently, announcing plans to debut a new song at ComplexCon from March 21-23.
However, ADOR stated: "It is unfortunate that the members made this decision unilaterally before a legal ruling on the validity of their exclusive contract with ADOR was made."
The management company also called on the media to continue calling the group "NewJeans", emphasizing that the announcement of contract termination was only an affirmation from the members.
Despite ADOR's stance, NewJeans members remained adamant about using the name NJZ, expressing their refusal to return to the company.
As the lawsuit over the validity of their exclusive contract continues, legal experts have raised concerns about legal risks to the group's independent operations.
“The NewJeans trademark belongs to ADOR. Even if the members argue that the contract was terminated due to ADOR’s fault, this does not give them rights to the trademark. If they are released from the contract without penalty, the use of the trademark would still constitute infringement. It seems that they created the abbreviation NJZ as a temporary solution, but there is still a trademark infringement issue,” explained lawyer Ko Sang Rok from the YouTube channel “Attack on Lawyer.”
“Under trademark law, infringement is a criminal offense. Their choice of name seems to be a potential criminal offense. Trademark infringement is judged based on the likelihood of public confusion, and in this case, the members themselves are continuing to operate under a similar name. There is a 99.9% chance that the legal authorities will consider NJZ to be a confusingly similar trademark to NewJeans,” Ko added.
Korean media interviewed lawyer Jin Bo Ra (whose agency was not disclosed). She also raised concerns about the group's ongoing activities, including signing a new advertising contract independent of ADOR.
“If the lawsuit determines that the exclusivity agreement is still valid, members could be required to share profits; they could face penalties for breach of contract. Taking such action at this stage is extremely risky,” she warned.
"If NewJeans continues to operate even though their contract is still valid, they will be subject to significant penalties as stated in the contract. Additionally, if ADOR suffers damages, the members may be liable for compensation," added lawyer Jung Jong Chae from LAW&CASE.
