Global Innovation Policy Center

March 15, 2017

South Korea


Primary Sources

  • Act on Conservation and Utilization of Biodiversity (Act No. 11257 of February 1, 2012, as amended up to Act No. 12459 of March 18, 2014) (2014)
  • Act on Costs in Civil Procedure (Act No. 336 of September 9, 1954, as amended up to Act No. 11551 of December 18, 2012) (2013)
  • Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology (Act No. 8062 of October 27, 2006, as amended up to Act No. 11690 of March 23, 2013) (2013)
  • Act on the Investigation of Unfair International Trade Practices and Remedy Against Injury to the Industry (Act No. 6417 of February 3, 2001, as amended up to Act No. 10230 of April 5, 2010) (2010)
  • Act on the Management of Public Archives (Act No. 5709 of January 29, 1999, as amended up to Act No. 11690 of March 23, 2013) (2013)
  • Act on the Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (Act No. 3848 of May 12, 1986, as amended up to Act No. 13280 of March 27, 2015) (2015)
  • Act on the Promotion of Newspapers, etc. (Act No. 3979 of November 28, 1987, as amended up to Act No. 11690 of March 23, 2013) (2013)
  • Act on Transboundary Movement, etc., of Living Modified Organisms (Act No. 6448 of March 28, 2001, as amended up to Act No. 12844 of November 19, 2014) (2014)
  • Administrative Litigation Act (Act No. 213 of August 24, 1951, as amended up to Act No. 11690 of March 23, 2013) (2013)
  • Arbitration Act (Act No. 1767 of March 16, 1966, as amended up to Act No. 11690 of March 23, 2013) (2013)
  • Broadcasting Act (Act No. 3978 of November 28, 1987, as amended up to Act No. 12093 of August 13, 2013) (2013)
  • Civil Act (Act No. 471 of February 22, 1958, as amended up to Act No. 11728 of April 5, 2013) (2013)
  • Civil Mediation Act (Act No. 4202 of January 13, 1990, as amended up to Act No. 11157 of January 17, 2012) (2012)
  • Civil Procedure Act (Act No. 547 of April 4, 1960, as amended up to Act No. 10629 of May 19, 2011) (2011)
  • Commercial Act (Act No. 1000 of January 20, 1962, as last amended by Act No. 10696 of May 23, 2011) (2011)
  • Copyright Act (Act No. 432 of January 28, 1957, as amended up to Act No. 12137 of December 30, 2013) (2014)
  • Court Organization Act (Act No. 3992 of December 4, 1987, as amended up to Act No. 12886 of December 30, 2014) (2014)
  • Criminal Act (Act No. 239 of September 18, 1953, as amended up to Act No. 11731 of April 5, 2013) (2013)
  • Criminal Procedure Act (Act No. 341 of September 23, 1954, as amended up to Act No. 11572 of December 18, 2012) (2013)
  • Cultural Heritage Protection Act (Act No. 961 of January 10, 1962, as amended up to Act No. 10000 of February 4, 2010) (2010)
  • Customs Act (Act No. 67 of November 23, 1949, as amended up to Act No. 12159 of January 1, 2014) (2014)
  • Decree on the Registration of Patent Rights, etc. (Presidential Decree No. 23344 of December 2, 2011, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 25122 of January 28, 2014) (2014)
  • Design Regulations (Ordinance No. 101 of October 19, 1962, of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as amended up to Ordinance No. 58 of April 21, 2014 of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy) (2014)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Copyright Act (Presidential Decree No. 1482 of April 22, 1959, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 24797 of October 16, 2013) (2013)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Customs Act (Presidential Decree No. 295 of March 27, 1950, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 24373 of February 15, 2013) (2014)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Fair Labeling and Advertising Act (Presidential Decree No. 16430 of June 30, 1999, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 25050 of December 30, 2013) (2014)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on Intellectual Property (Presidential Decree No. 23036 of July 19, 2011) (2011)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Game Industry Promotion Act (Presidential Decree No. 19717 of October 27, 2006, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 25050 of December 30, 2013) (2014)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Industrial Design Protection Act (Presidential Decree No. 561 of March 22, 1962, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 25120 of January 28, 2014) (2014)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Invention Promotion Act (Presidential Decree No. 14376 of September 9, 1994, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 25120 of January 28, 2014) (2014)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (Presidential Decree No. 10267 of April 1, 1981, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 24697 of August 27, 2013) (2013)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Patent Act (Cabinet Decree No. 590 of March 27, 1962, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 24852 of November 20, 2013) (2013)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Publishing Industry Promotion Act (Presidential Decree No. 17921 of February 24, 2003, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 24020 of August 3, 2012) (2012)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Trademark Act (as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 24439 of March 23, 2013) (2013)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act (as last amended by Presidential Decree No. 23153 of September 22, 2011) (2011)
  • Enforcement Decree of the Utility Model Act (Presidential Decree No. 562 of March 22, 1962, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 24646 of June 28, 2013) (2013)
  • Enforcement Rule of the Copyright Act (Ordinance No. 94, July 1, 1987, of the Ministry of Culture and Communication, as amended up to Ordinance No. 134, October 18, 2012, of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) (2012)
  • Enforcement Rule of the Decree on the Registration of Patent Right, etc. (Ordinance No. 221, December 2, 2011, of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, as amended up to Ordinance No. 47, January 29, 2014, of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) (2014)
  • Fair Labeling and Advertising Act (Act No. 5814 of February 5, 1999, as amended up to Act No. 12096 of August 13, 2013) (2013)
  • Fair Transactions in Franchise Business Act (Act No. 6704 of May 13, 2002, as amended up to Act No. 10168 of March 22, 2010) (2010)
  • Framework Act on Intellectual Property (2011)
  • Framework Act on the Promotion of Cultural Industries (Act No. 5927 of February 8, 1999, as amended up to Act No. 11845 of May 28, 2013) (2013)
  • Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America (March 15, 2012)
  • Game Industry Promotion Act (Act No. 7941 of April 28, 2006, as amended up to Act No. 11785 of May 22, 2013) (2013)
  • Industrial Design Protection Act (Act No. 951 of December 31, 1961, as amended up to Act No. 12288 of January 21, 2014) (2014)
  • Invention Promotion Act (Act No. 4757 of March 24, 1994, as amended up to Act No. 11960 of July 30, 2013) (2014)
  • Libraries Act (Act No. 4746 of March 24, 1994, as amended up to Act No. 11310 of February 17, 2012) (2012)
  • Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (Act No. 3320 of December 31, 1980, as amended up to Act No. 11937 of July 16, 2013) (2014)
  • Music Industry Promotion Act (Act No. 7942 of April 28, 2006, as amended up to Act No. 10629 of May 19, 2011) (2011)
  • National Compensation Act (Act No. 231 of September 8, 1951, as amended up to Act No. 5433 of December 13, 1997) (1997)
  • Online Digital Content Industry Development Act (Act No. 6603 of January 14, 2002, as amended up to Act No. 11690 of March 23, 2013) (2013)
  • Patent Act (Act No. 950 of December 31, 1961, as amended up to Act No. 11962 of July 30, 2013) (2013)
  • Patent Regulations (Ordinance No. 99 of October 19, 1962, of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as amended up to Ordinance No. 56 of April 10, 2014, of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) (2014)
  • Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (Act No. 300 of December 18, 1953, as amended up to Act No. 12074 of August 13, 2013) (2013)
  • Promotion of the Motion Pictures and Video Products Act (Act No. 7943 of April 28, 2006, as amended up to Act No. 11902 of July 16, 2013) (2013)
  • Publishing Industry Promotion Act (Act No. 6721 of August 26, 2002, as amended up to Act No. 11048 of September 15, 2011) (2012)
  • Regulations Concerning the Disposal, Management and Compensation, etc. for the Public Officials’ Inventions (Presidential Decree No. 6397 of December 14, 1972, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 24439 of March 23, 2013) (2013)
  • Regulations Concerning the Expropriation and Implementation of the Patent Right (Cabinet Decree No. 559 of March 22, 1962, as amended up to Presidential Decree No. 23488 of January 6, 2012) (2012)
  • Regulations on Payment of Patent Fees and Other Fees Related to Utility Models, Industrial Designs and Trademarks (Ordinance No. 634 of August 3, 1981, of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as amended up to Ordinance No. 51, February 21, 2014, of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) (2014)
  • Regulations on Safety of Pharmaceuticals, etc. (enacted by Ordinance of the Prime Minister, No. 1022 of March 23, 2013) (2013)
  • Software Industry Promotion Act (Act No. 3984 of December 4, 1987, as amended up to Act No. 12722 of June 03, 2014) (2014)
  • Technology Transfer and Commercialization Promotion Act (Act No. 8108 of December 28, 2006, as last amended by Act No. 9689 of May 21, 2009) (2009)
  • Trademark Act (Act No. 71 of November 28, 1949, as amended up to Act No. 12751 of June 11, 2014) (2014)
  • Trademark Regulations (as amended up to Ordinance No. 16 of June 28, 2013 of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) (2013)
  • Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act (Act No. 911 of December 30, 1961, as amended up to Act No. 11112 of December 2, 2011) (2012)
  • Utility Model Act (Act No. 952 of December 31, 1961, as amended up to Act No. 12752 of June 11, 2014) (2014)
  • Utility Model Regulations (as amended up to Ordinance No. 47, January 29, 2014, of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) (2014)

    • Secondary Sources

  • Asian Patent Attorneys Association (2013), “APAA Patents Committee Report: Korea”, 2013
  • Bang, S. (2014), “Courts act to strengthen patent protection”, IAM Magazine, 2014
  • Bloomberg (2015), “Smartphone ‘Cold War’ Seen in Asian Moves on Patent Licensing”, 5/25/2015
  • Bonchul, K. (2012), “ANTI-COUNTERFEITING POLICIES OF THE KOREAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE (KIPO)”, WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement, 12/2012
  • Calkins, J. (2013), “Pharma – Patentability of Chemical/Pharmaceutical Inventions” in Korea-US IP Judicial Conference, Seoul, Korea, 2013
  • Cassin, R. (2015), “South Korea company penalized $360 million for plot to steal DuPont Kevlar trade secrets”, FCPA Blog, 5/6/2015
  • Chin, Y.W. (2016), “ABA Comments on KFTC’s IPR Guidelines”, KU ICR Law Center Recent Developments & Issues of IPR Guidelines, 5/13/2016
  • European Patent Office (2015), “”Korea: From 5 to 3 years: KIPO to reduce period for filing examination request””, 6/2/2015
  • European Patent Office (2015), “Korea: KIPO to reintroduce postgrant opposition system”
  • European Patent Office (2016), “Korea: Newly amended South Korean Patent Act available online (in Korean)”
  • European Patent Office (2016), “Korea:Comprehensive patent law amendment to enter into force”, 8/18/2016
  • International Law Office (2015), “Patent Act amended to implement Patent Law Treaty”, 2/2/2015
  • International Tax Review (2015), “South Korea: Notable 2015 tax law amendments affecting foreign invested companies and foreign individuals”, 1/27/2015
  • Kasan Insight: Korea IP Law Blog (2014), “Patent and Drug Marketing Approval (MA) linkage in Korea”
  • Kim & Chang (2014), ” Draft Legislation of Pharmaceutical Affairs Act for Korean Patent-Regulatory Approval Linkage System”, Spring 2014
  • Kim & Chang (2016), Quarterly Update of Korea IP Law and Policy, Spring 2016
  • Kim, K.Y., Jin, H. & Lee, S.S. (2015), “The Korean Drug Approval-Patent Linkage System: A Comparison with the US Hatch-Waxman Act”, February 2015
  • Kim, M. (2016), “Celltrion to Face Challenges from Biogen”, Business Korea, 2/17/2016
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  • Kim, Y. (2014), “Patent Linkage System in Korea”, AIPPI, 9/16/2014
  • Kim, Y. & Kim, I.H. (2012), “Supreme Court upholds validity of selection invention patent for first time”, International Law Office, 11/26/2012
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  • KIPO (2016), “Application Procedure for Patents and Utility models”, 5/27/2016
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  • Lexology (2015), “Korea Fair Trade Commission amends Guidelines for Review of Unreasonable Exercise of Intellectual Property Rights” 2/14/2015
  • Lexology (2015), “Korean antitrust enforcer amends guidelines on abuse of intellectual property rights”, 3/19/2015
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  • ResMed (2011), Letter to Austrailan Health Committee “RE: Patent Amendment (Human Genes and Biological Materials) Bill 2010”, 2/25/2011
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  • U.S. Senate (2016), Letter from Senator Hatch and Senate Committee on Finance to Korean Ambassador Ahn, 3/2/2016
  • World Trademark Review Daily (2014), “Supreme Court decision represents significant defeat for cybersquatters”, 3/4/2014
  • Zuallcobley, R.W. et al (2012), “Study on Specialized Intellectual Property Courts”, International Intellectual Property Institute/USPTO
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