The K-pop girl group NewJeans surprised their fans on February 7th by changing their name to NJZ. This rebranding happened while the group is involved in a well-known legal disagreement with their agency ADOR about the validity of their exclusive contracts. Following this name change, NJZ has reportedly taken steps to secure their new brand identity.
Trademark Applications Under NJZ
According to a report from the Korean media outlet OSEN on March 18th, NJZ filed for trademark protection under their new name just one day before the official announcement of the rebranding. The Korea Intellectual Property Information Service (KIPRIS) indicates that the group, consisting of members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein, applied for trademarks for two NJZ logos and one NJZ symbol. These applications cover a wide range of ten different product categories.
The categories included in the trademark applications are:
CDs
Clothing
Mats (often used as cushions in K-pop merchandise)
Lighting equipment (potentially for a light stick)
Leather products
Fragrances
Fruit-based beverages
Furniture
Legal Representation and Timing
The trademark applications list all five members of NJZ as the applicants. The legal firm Shin & Kim LLC is handling the entire legal process related to these trademarks. This is the same law firm that has been representing the group in their ongoing legal battle with ADOR. NJZ’s members had already appointed Shin & Kim LLC as their legal representatives in January after ADOR, a subsidiary of HYBE Labels, filed an injunction against them. The injunction aimed to prevent the members from independently signing advertising deals and contracts related to other entertainment activities.
ADOR’s injunction was reportedly a response to NJZ’s rebranding and the announcement of their future activities, which were made without the agency’s knowledge or consent.
First Activity Under the New Name
Despite their contractual obligations with ADOR, NJZ has already announced their first public appearance under their new moniker. The group is scheduled to perform at the global street fashion and culture festival ComplexCon in Hong Kong. The event will take place at the AsiaWorld-Expo convention center from March 21st to 23rd.
In addition to their performance plans, NJZ also revealed their new group logo through a short video and launched several new social media accounts on platforms like X, YouTube, and TikTok. Links to these new accounts were shared on NJZ’s official Instagram stories.
