Korean Patent Act Development of 2022

Major revisions to the South Korean Patent Act (KPA) came into effect on April 20, 2022. The period for filing an appeal against a rejection decision in Korea will be extended from 30 days to three months. Under the amended Korean Patent Act (KPA), applicants can save costs by avoiding time extensions that earlier had a narrow time period of 30 days. The time period was extended to three months from the date of receipt of a Notice of Final

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Korean Patent Law’s Trade Secret Protection: Amendment to Trade Secret Law in Korea

The amended Patent Act of Korea (“Korean Patent Act”) and the amended Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act (“Korean Trade Secret Protection Act”) of Korea shall enter into force on July 9, 2019. The most important key developments are great criminal penalties for trade secret misappropriations; damage awards up to three times of the actual damage regarding infringements of patent rights or trade secret rights; eased litigation requirements for the claimants; and a revised basis for calculating royalty

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Licensee has Standing to Challenge the Validity of a Patent in Korea. Korean Licensing & Royalty Law Updates

Prior to a recent holding by the Supreme Court of Korea, the Korean Supreme Court had conflicting holdings on the definition of an “interested party” under Korean Patent Law. In order for a party to challenge the validity of a patent, in Korea, a party challenging the patent must be an “interested party.” Until this year, it was not clear whether a licensee of the patent in question is an “interested party” with standing to challenge the patent in Korea.

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Trade Dress Law in Korea. The Copycat May Catch the Mouse

A blog I just, recently, ran into posted an interesting post on Hermes trouble with copycats in Korea. The blog may be found at: Fashion Law Blog. Hermes lost, recently, a High Court case in Korea.  Hermes argued, in part, that: ” [Defendant’s] bags – which bear a striking resemblance to its famed Birkin and Kelly styles – run afoul of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, which prohibits, ‘causing confusion with another person’s goods by using

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Korean Patent Court’s Intellectual Property Infringement Guidelines

Early in 2016, the Patent Court of Korea published Guidelines Regarding the Appeals of IP Infringement Actions (“IP Appeal Guidelines”) based on the reality that the Patent Court of Korea has assumed control over appeals of Korean IP infringement lawsuits. Overall, Korean legal practitioners welcomed the focus of the Korean Patent Court on increasing professionalism while developing an efficient procedure in disposing of cases. Significant developments, at the Patent Court, are ongoing and we shall update the reader on the

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