IST Entertainment Clarifies Situation Regarding THE BOYZ's Trademark + Denies Statement Made By Group's New Agency

IST Entertainment has released a new statement regarding the trademark rights to THE BOYZ’s group name.

On December 4, the day before the expiration of the members’ contracts with IST Entertainment, THE BOYZ’s new agency ONE HUNDRED announced that their negotiations with IST Entertainment over trademark rights to the group name had fallen through. ONE HUNDRED claimed that IST Entertainment’s conditions had been “unreasonable” and stated that despite doing their “utmost to negotiate,” they had not been able to reach “a positive outcome.”

However, later that evening, IST Entertainment responded with a statement of their own denying several of ONE HUNDRED’s allegations.

IST Entertainment’s full statement is as follows:

Hello.
This is IST Entertainment.

We find the recent clear misinformation that is spreading regarding [THE BOYZ’s] trademark regrettable, and we would like to correct it.

Contrary to what has been reported, we have decided to provide all 11 members of THE BOYZ with the right to use their trademark free of charge, and we have already conveyed this intention to the members.

We also intended to make it possible to use the trademark free of charge in any activity (including unit and group activities) to which the 11 members agreed.

Furthermore, regarding one member who still has six months remaining in his exclusive contract, we decided to allow him to end his exclusive contract early in spite of the remaining contract period in order to support his activities under his new agency, and we have already conveyed this intention to the member in question.

Our decision to provide the right to use the trademark free of charge to the members of the group themselves, and not their new agency, was made based on our desire for an even deeper and smoother meeting between the members and the fans in the future, as well as active promotions.

Out of the desire to support the permanence of THE BOYZ, a group that is receiving lots of love from the public, and their ability to meet their fans without any barriers, we thought it was more correct to give the members themselves the right to use their trademark free of charge.

The statements that “we requested an excessive price for the trademark” and “we made demands to the new agency that went beyond the norm” are completely untrue. Rather, we were waiting for various proposals with an open mind regarding the trademark, and we merely had a few basic and theoretical discussions for the sake of a smooth handover.

Although our relationship with THE BOYZ is sadly ending, we promise to support THE BOYZ so that they do not experience any inconvenience in their future activities, and we will sincerely cheer them on in their future endeavors as well.

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