|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IP Newsletter | Summer/Fall 2016
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PATENT
|
|
|
|
|
|
The "Manual" Is Here: Streamlined Procedural Rules at the Patent Court
|
|
|
|
|
|
We reported earlier that as of January this year, the Patent Court of Korea now has exclusive jurisdiction over appeals of most intellectual property infringement cases in Korea.1 Following the jurisdictional consolidation, in March the court issued the Manual for Appellate Examination of Infringement Actions (the "Manual"), to be applied to all appellate infringement proceedings at the court, and which are similar to the patent local rules promulgated at various U.S. federal district courts. While many Korean courts already have been applying their own internal rules and procedures, this Manual is the first of its kind to be publicly issued by a Korean court, with the intention of being consistently and formally applied.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Manual provides various procedural guidelines for (i) commencing an action, and rules for pleadings, motions and orders; (ii) trial scheduling (with stricter criteria for the timeline of submitting arguments and evidence than previously); (iii) requesting and submitting evidence; (iv) conducting trial hearings, including expert witnesses and the length of oral arguments; (v) formatting briefs; and (vi) presenting certain invalidity and infringement arguments (e.g., lack of inventiveness, lack of clarity or support, infringement and damages) including supporting evidence. The current version of the Manual, however, does not provide clear sanctions for failure to comply with the rules, and the rules themselves are broadly defined without much detail, though the Patent Court is in the process of further clarifying and developing the rules.
|
|
|
|
|
|
In short, the Manual is intended to streamline court proceedings and to promote greater predictability in patent appeals by setting forth an integrated and convenient structure of rules and procedures. Although it remains to be seen how the court will shape this process going forward, the Manual has been broadly welcomed by practitioners as a long-overdue development of the Korean legal system, particularly in view of the ever growing and more complex IP disputes being handled by Korean courts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Back to Main Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you have any questions regarding this article, please contact:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For more information, please visit our website: www.ip.kimchang.com
|
|
|
|