While Korean webtoons are reaching new heights of popularity and gaining global recognition as cultural content, the local webtoon industry is afraid that the name "webtoon" may become unique to the South Korean internet behemoth Naver, which has a large presence in the United States.

Webtoons, a sort of online comic, are electronic cartoons and graphic novels that are read by scrolling down the screen, which is most commonly found on smartphones and tablet computers.

An uproar developed after Naver Webtoon filed the term "webtoon" as a trademark in the United States in January and in three other countries — Indonesia, Japan, and Taiwan — earlier this year, amid the widespread popularity of webtoon adaptations in films, television shows, and video games.

As a way of demonstrating that it has no intention of harming other webtoon firms, the corporation has not required that they pay a fee for the use of the term.

In a statement to The Korea Herald on Friday, a Naver Webtoon official said the company's filing for trademark protection for the term "webtoon" may be construed as a defensive measure to defend the company's trademark rights from foreign competitors.

"In the United States, the term webtoon had previously been registered by an individual with a connotation that was entirely different from what we now understand by the term webtoon. The corporation incurred fees and costs over a period of several years in order to acquire the trademark rights in question. In order to safeguard the webtoon as a Korean cultural asset, the firm's foreign platform service, as well as its international platform service, obliged the company to apply for trademark rights, the official explained.

Despite the fact that it is in keeping with the procedures taken for Naver Webtoon's international development, the biggest webtoon firm getting the rights, according to industry insiders, is a source of concern for the late movers.

"While it is possible that Navier Webtoon does not seek to monopolize the brand, other platforms are nevertheless concerned about the potential problems that may occur if they use the word webtoon for their international services," said an industry source who requested anonymity.

Despite the fact that webtoons are gaining enormous popularity, they are referred to in numerous ways by international media and content outlets, including webcomics, web cartoons, and digital comics.

In his capacity as chairman of the Korea Webtoon Industry Association, Seo Bum-gang feels that the international trademark rights to the word webtoon are a significant problem in the globalization of webtoons.

"I personally feel that the next few years will be a critical period for Korean webtoons in terms of attracting the attention of international viewers. Regardless of Naver Webtoon's intentions, their application for trademark rights will be the worst-case scenario for the business, as it will prevent the globalization of webtoons from taking place. "That is the one thing that has me concerned," Seo told The Korea Herald.

"I believe that if Naver can soothe the worry of other webtoon platforms by entering into an agreement with our association or other webtoon-related channels, the mounting fears will be put to rest. Webtoon should be acknowledged as the proud cultural material of Korea, rather than as a product or a brand of a firm," Seo continued.