A recent decision of the Seoul Central District Court highlights the potential exposure faced by companies that manufacture or sell products incorporating designs developed by third parties without authorization from the 3rd party. In Case No. 2025Gadan106047, the court ordered Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., Ltd. and an event-management company to jointly and severally pay KRW 39 million to a designer for the intentional infringement of a registered design right. The award represented twice the amount of the designer’s actual damages as calculated by the court. Facts Design
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Enforcing your Trademark Rights in Korea: Korean IP Protection Strategies
Please register all of your trademarks and other intellectual property in Korea. Yes, your “international filing” is not good enough. You must, before engaging in any additional consideration of doing business in Korea, register your IP in Korea. After registering your IP in Korea, please follow, at a minimum, this simple advice. Strategy for Protecting Your Intellectual Property in Korea by Sean Hayes Sean Hayes is the first non-Korean attorney to have worked for the Korean court system (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first
Continue readingProtecting Technology in Korea through Filing a Criminal Suit Against an IP Violator
The following case demonstrates that companies doing business in Korea can help protect intellectual property in Korea by aggressively defending intellectual property rights through Korean courts. For an article on pragmatic approaches to protecting your IP under Korean Law, please see: How to Protect Your Intellectual Property in Korea. The Korean Supreme Court upheld the sentence of the vice president of a SK Hynix partner company who leaked key SK Hynix core semiconductor technology and equipment drawings to a Chinese company. Supreme Court’s SK Hynix Trade Secret
Continue readingKorea Fighting Chinese Company Espionage through Revisions to Unfair Competition Prevention & Trade Secrets Protection Act of Korea
Amendments to the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secrets Protection Act of Korea (“Unfair Competition Prevention Act of Korea”) and the Patent Act of Korea are effective as of August 21, 2024. The Amendments, in short, impose harsher criminal, civil, and administrative penalties while increasing the availability of evidence in civil cases. The Amendments to the Unfair Competition Prevention Act of Korea were implemented in reaction to the alleged theft of intellectual property by overseas companies and governments. The revisions were pushed for by Korean conglomerate victims
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