CJ CheilJedang gets U.S. patent for Bibigo dumplings

CJ CheilJedang received a design patent in the United States for the shape of its Bibigo-brand dumplings, the company announced on Thursday.

Packs of Bibigo dumplings are stacked at a grocery store in Seoul on March 31. [YONHAP]

CJ CheilJedang received a design patent in the United States for the shape of its Bibigo-brand dumplings, the company announced on Thursday.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the company the patent covering the dumplings’ signature “two thin, repeating pleats" over a year after the company filed the application in February 2023.

"This is a design patent for a specific dumpling shape characterized by narrow, double pleats,” a company spokesperson said. “It does not apply to the entire dumpling category.”

The design will be protected for 15 years under U.S. patent law. Bibigo dumplings currently hold the largest market share in North America, where CJ CheilJedang has been actively marketing its products under the Korean term for dumpling — mandu — rather than the more familiar English word since entering the U.S. market in 2010.

News of the patent has sparked backlash in China, where some state-run media outlets have accused the Korean company of appropriating traditional Chinese culture.

The Global Times, a tabloid affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily, posted a statement on its official Weibo account under the headline, “Absurd! A Korean company has patented the shape of jiaozi [potstickers],” on Wednesday.

The outlet noted that CJ CheilJedang submitted 14 images of the dumpling from various angles to support its application.

Another Chinese media outlet, Daxiang News, reported that the patent specifically defines the design as having “14 to 16 spiral pleats formed in a clockwise direction,” and warned that “Chinese dumplings with a similar shape could now face legal risks in the United States under patent law.” Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY LEE HAY-JUNE [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]