According to a representative of TS Entertainment, the agency intends on renewing its trademark ownership of the group name 'B.A.P' soon.
Earlier this week on August 8 KST, B.A.P members Bang Yong Guk, Jung Daehyun, Yoo Youngjae, and Moon Jongup released their 1st mini album, 'Curtain Call'. During their mini album showcase, the group members stated, "It would have been great if we could have used our original team name, but the reality is that it is difficult. We wondered if we should create a new team name, but since we promoted with the old team name for so long, coming out with a new name was just... The fans remember us as B.A.P. If we can't use that name, then the right thing to do was to use our given names to meet our fans again."
Several 2nd and 3rd generation K-Pop acts such as INFINITE, GOT7, B2ST, and most recently, G-Dragon, underwent legal processes to gain the trademark ownership of their group or stage names. However, the owner of the group name B.A.P, TS Entertainment, has other ideas about who the ownership should belong to.
A representative of TS Entertainment told StarNews on August 9 KST, "Other groups who left their old agencies set up their own agency specifically for group promotions, then sought to talk matters over with their old agencies. But none of the B.A.P members ever sought to talk it over with the late CEO. The six members never contacted us saying that they wanted the trademark."
In fact, the trademark registration for the group name 'B.A.P' expired last month, according to TS. And the agency intends on renewing the registration soon. "Currently, all of the members are under different agencies, and it's not like they have all 6 members either. It doesn't seem like they want to claim ownership of the trademark so they can make money. So to act like victims and make it look like we refused to let them use the name, that's poor judgement," the rep added.
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