Fanomenon Trademark Structure Draws National Assembly Scrutiny

The trademark structure behind Fanomenon, South Korea’s planned large-scale K-pop festival, is drawing scrutiny from the National Assembly.

Rep. Bae Hyun-jin said she plans to call JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin-young to testify at an upcoming audit over why JYP initially applied for trademark rights to Fanomenon and how those rights are being transferred.

Park co-chairs the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange, which is developing Fanomenon alongside major entertainment companies.

The questions center on the unusual intersection between JYP’s role as a private entertainment company and Fanomenon’s development as a publicly supported cultural initiative.

JYP initially filed for the Fanomenon trademark domestically before transferring a 50 percent stake to South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange says JYP’s remaining domestic stake will eventually be transferred in full to a dedicated entity established to operate the festival.

Overseas filings have also attracted attention.

JYP Entertainment filed 11 Fanomenon trademark applications in the United States in November 2025, covering areas extending beyond concerts into merchandise, ticketing, broadcasting, streaming and other commercial uses. U.S. trademark records identify JYP Entertainment Corporation as the applicant, though the applications should not be treated as equivalent to completed registrations.

At least one of those applications has subsequently received action from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as part of the examination process.

The presidential committee says JYP handled the initial overseas filings to secure the Fanomenon brand quickly in international markets and that those rights are also intended to be transferred to the dedicated organization that will ultimately run the festival.

The committee has additionally said safeguards will be established around public accountability and the reinvestment of revenue generated through the event.

Bae, however, has questioned why the trademark arrangement was structured this way initially, when the transfers will be completed and whether the process received adequate review. Those questions are now expected to form part of Park’s appearance before the National Assembly.

The scrutiny arrives while Fanomenon itself remains in development.

Scheduled for December 2–12, 2027, across venues including Seoul Arena and KINTEX in Goyang, the festival is being positioned as a major international K-pop and Korean-culture event. Organizers have projected attendance exceeding 500,000 people.

The dispute does not currently change those plans, but it puts the ownership and governance structure surrounding one of South Korea’s most ambitious planned K-pop events under greater public examination.