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| PATENT |
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Draft Legislation of Pharmaceutical Affairs Act for Korean Patent-Regulatory Approval Linkage System |
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| On March 21, 2014, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) announced draft legislation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act to fully implement the linkage system. The draft legislation includes revised provisions on the current patent listing and generic notice systems, new provisions on the stay mechanism and generic exclusivity. The major details are summarized below and a comparison with the US Hatch-Waxman Act which the Korean linkage system is based is also presented. Read more |
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Pharmaceutical Industry Update: Caution Needed in Reverse Payment Settlements |
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| The Korean Supreme Court recently ruled that reverse payment settlements may violate the fair trade laws. Coincidently, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) had announced in March 2014 that it plans to require pharmaceutical companies to report settlements of drug patent disputes. Read more |
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Historic USD 6 Million Award for In-Service Inventions Confirmed on Appeal |
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| On February 6, 2014, the Korean High Court affirmed the Seoul Central District Court's award of about USD 6 million for in-service inventions to a former Samsung Electronics ("Samsung") employee. More precisely, the award was for 10% of the royalties earned by Samsung from the in-service inventions. Neither party has filed any further appeals. Thus, the decision is now final. Read more |
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The Korean IP Correction System – An Important Tool for Your Enforcement Strategy Toolbox |
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| Recent developments in Korean IP law have increased the importance of post-issuance patent correction as an element of a patentee's overall strategy for enforcement, allowing a patentee to clarify the patented subject matter and address potential validity issues in advance of a dispute, as well as possibly to resolve weaknesses in its claim for infringement. Read more |
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Multiple IP Applications Related to a Single Product May Now Be Examined Together |
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| The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) recently announced that batch examination is now available for all types of IP applications. Batch examination allows an applicant to pool together multiple IP applications related to a common product into one examination basket to be processed according to an applicant's designated timeline. Read more |
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Korea Fair Trade Commission Announces Closer Review of Non-Practicing Entities |
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| The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) is expected to take a closer look at potentially abusive practices of non-practicing entities or NPEs this year. On February 20, the KFTC reported its work plan for 2014 to President Park Geun-hye. The KFTC outlined five core policy objectives, one of which is the facilitation of an innovation-fostering market environment. As a step towards achieving this goal, the KFTC will focus on preventing abusive patent assertions by NPEs. Read more |
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KIPO/KTC 2013 Survey on Intellectual Property-Related Activities in Korea Now Available |
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| The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and the Korea Trade Commission (KTC) jointly published the 2013 Survey on Intellectual Property-Related Activities in Korea last December. The 2013 survey is available in Korean and can be downloaded from their websites. Read more |
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Free Machine Translations of Korean Patents Now Available from KIPO |
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| As of January 3, 2014, the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) began providing a free Korean-to-English machine translation service of published and registered Korean patents and utility models. KIPRIS is an online intellectual property information search service provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). KIPRIS covers all aspects of Korean IP information including patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks. Read more |
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| TRADEMARK, DESIGN & COPYRIGHT |
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Korea Joins the Hague Agreement, Amends Design Act
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| The Korean Intellectual Property Office recently announced that Korea deposited its instrument of accession to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs ("Hague Agreement") with WIPO. The procedures of the Hague Agreement will be effective in Korea as of July 1, 2014. Further, new amendments to the Korean Design Protection Act will go into effect on July 1, 2014. Read more |
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ANDROID Dessert Trademark Violates Google's Rights, Patent Court Holds
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| Google, Inc. names each major version of its Android operating system after a dessert (such as Cupcake, Donut, Éclair, Froyo, etc.). Now, in a recent decision involving the invalidation of an adverse registration for the Korean transliteration of the "Android" mark, the Patent Court has recognized Google's practice as a basis for acknowledging an economic relationship between the Android operating system and desserts/beverages in Classes 30 and 32. Read more |
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No Goods Left Behind: Invalidating Bad Faith Filings
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The Supreme Court recently overturned two decisions by the Patent Court, which only partially invalidated bad faith registrations similar to well-known marks. In both cases, the Patent Court invalidated the registrations only as to goods/services economically related to goods/services covered by the well-known marks, while leaving them valid for goods/services that had no such economic relationship. The Supreme Court's decisions in the 바비퀸 ("Barbie Queen" in Korean transliteration) case and  case send a strong signal to lower level courts that similar registrations which are found to have been filed with unfair competitive purposes should be invalidated in their entirety, not only for goods/services specifically related to the famous mark. Read more |
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"N" Means New Life for Non-Distinctive Portions
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| The Supreme Court en banc ruled that a mark similar to an inherently non-distinctive portion of a registered mark, which had acquired secondary meaning in the Korean market place after registration, falls within the scope of protection of the registered mark. Read more |
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"Free" Software May Be Expensive Infringement of Copyright
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| A recent ruling from the Seoul Central District Court has highlighted the dangers to companies of failing to supervise their employees' installation and use of software for work purposes in violation of the software license terms. The February 21, 2014 ruling held that employees' use of "free for personal use" software at work without paying the requisite license fees rendered the employees' company liable for copyright infringement. Read more |
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