Lee International

Bills revising the Korean Patent Act, Trademark Act, Design Protection Act, and Invention Promotion Act were passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on July 23, 2021 in order to quickly resolve disputes during a trial and to improve the accuracy of the trial before the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board (IPTAB) of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) for cutting-edge technologies.

This revision introduces a mediation system that may conclude the trial proceeding through agreement between the parties in trial before the IPTAB and a timely submission system that can induce the parties to submit arguments and/or evidence at the beginning of the trial proceeding.  Such revision will come into effect on November 18, 2021.  In addition, in order to strengthen the trial expertise on newly emerging cutting-edge technologies, the IPTAB laid the groundwork for arranging trial support personnel who specialize in investigating and researching these technologies, which will come into effect on February 18, 2022.

Specifically, with introduction of the mediation system during the trial, if the presiding trial judge decides that mediation is necessary, the case can be referred to the Industrial Property Dispute Mediation Committee (hereafter referred to as the “Committee”).  A trial case that has been referred to the Committee can be quickly concluded by agreement between both parties within three months from the time it is referred.

With introduction of the timely submission system, a party in trial before the IPTAB must submit his or her arguments and/or evidence in a timely manner.  Arguments and/or evidence submitted not within the time prescribed by the trial judge due to intentional or gross negligence will not be considered during the trial.  The Court has already applied the timely submission principle with the revision of the Civil Procedure Act in 2002.

With the IPTAB laying the groundwork to have state-of-the-art technology-related experts as support personnel for trials, the groundwork is laid for strengthening expertise in cutting-edge technologies.

As the revision will come into effect, it is expected that the trials before the IPTAB will be conducted more quickly and accurately.