The Court’s task in patent cases is to review the decision of the Intellectual Property Tribunal (IPT) on the right to design, patent, utility model or trademark as having legal status or not. From there, the Court makes decisions on the legality of accepting or rejecting patent applications, invalidating patent registrations, and confirming the scope of patent rights.
In principle, the Patent Court’s power is limited to annulling the IPT’s decision and cannot invalidate patent rights or disallow patent registration of any invention. If dissatisfied with the decisions of the IPT, within 30 days from the date of the decision, the plaintiff may apply to the IPT to request that the decision be annulled. Some possible cases are as follows
– The defendant in the lawsuit is the Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office if the decision to legally refuse is opposed;
– The defendant is the opposing party in the decision-making process if the decision to affirm the scope of patent rights or the decision to invalidate the patent registration is challenged.
The jury of cases at the Patent Court includes a panel of 3 judges, and procedures are conducted similar to civil proceedings. In case of necessity, the Court may consider ex officio evidence because these cases are administratively related.
To give the parties or their lawyers an opportunity to present their views and provide evidence if the case involves patent rights or utility model rights, the Court will usually hold hearings before judge.
Technical examiners in the Patent Court are responsible for assisting judges in highly technical matters. If approved by the presiding judge, they may participate before or during the trial. To make it more convenient to resolve disputes related to utility models or patents, to help more accurately understand technical aspects, the Court may organize interpretation sessions, in which the participation of experts in the field to present real objects, drawings, video design or computer graphics,…
