”NewJeans” may change its name to ”NJZ” and declare its own activities, but ”there is a possibility of incurring huge penalty fees”? ... What is the legal community's opinion?

As NewJeans is currently in conflict with ADOR, a label under HYBE, over the group's name being changed to NJZ, opinions are also being expressed in the legal community.
On the 7th of this month, the members of "NewJeans" announced their separation from the management office ADOR and announced their new group name. "NJZ"
The girls, who have demonstrated their intention to promote themselves under the group name "Complex", will perform their new song on stage at the "Complex Concert" to be held in Hong Kong from March 21st to 23rd.
However, ADOR stated that they would not change the group name until a legal decision is made regarding the validity of the exclusive contract between ADOR and the members of NewJeans.
We feel very disappointed that the members unilaterally made this decision."
In addition, they also asked reporters to use the official group name "NewJeans."
They requested that the company be removed from the exclusive contract, and said that it was NewJeans' unilateral claim that the exclusive contract had been terminated. Despite this, the members of NewJeans continued to use the name NJZ.
They are using their group name and are taking a firm stance that they will not return to ADOR. However, as the lawsuit to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract between ADOR and NewJeans is still ongoing,
The legal profession has also expressed concern over the unique activities of "NewJeans." First, lawyer Ko Sang-rok of the YouTube channel "Attack on Lawyer" said, "'NewJeans
The trademark rights of "A.D.O." belong to ADOR. The members are of the position that they terminated the contract due to ADOR's unilateral fault, but even if that is true, the trademark rights have not been transferred or
However, it is not possible to use it. Even if the contract is terminated without penalty, it will be an infringement of the trademark right. It seems that the abbreviation was changed to "NJZ", but there is still a problem of infringement of the trademark right.
"According to the Trademark Act, if a trademark right is infringed, it is subject to criminal punishment," said Attorney Ko. "It seems that they decided on the name of the group while taking on the risk of committing a criminal offense.
"Whether or not there is a possibility of confusion between them is the deciding factor in determining whether or not there is a trademark infringement," he explained, and added, "The members of 'NewJeans' themselves are acting in a unified manner, and are using similar trademarks."
"There is a 99.9% chance that they will lose because the trademark is reminiscent of an existing group name and is likely to be confusing," he said.
In addition, Jin Bora, a lawyer from "Real Lawyer, Chin-ben," said AD
While it is unclear whether the exclusive contract with OR has been terminated, NewJeans has engaged in other activities, such as entering into an advertising contract, and the company stated, "In subsequent litigation, it was determined that the exclusive contract was maintained.
"However, we would have to share the profits from the activities that took place during that time, and there is a possibility that a penalty issue would arise. The very act of attempting something like this is extremely risky."
Furthermore, Jeong Jeong-choe, a lawyer at Jeongbeon Law & Case, said, "If NewJeans continues its activities even though the exclusive contract is not invalid,
If this happens, they will have to pay huge penalty fees under the exclusive contract. At the same time, if there is damage, they will have to pay compensation."
In addition, he referred to the clause in the standard exclusive contract for singers issued by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, stating, "Even if there is no fault attributable to the exclusive talent agency,
If he unilaterally breaches the contract with the intent of terminating it, he will have to pay the agency a penalty equal to his average sales over the past two years multiplied by the remaining period of the contract."
Meanwhile, on April 3rd, the first hearing will be held in a lawsuit filed by ADOR against the members of "NewJeans" to confirm the validity of their exclusive contract.