1. Mr. Soon-Woo HONG has joined P. K. KIM & ASSOCIATES as a partner patent attorney.
We are pleased to inform you that Mr. Soon-Woo HONG has joined our firm as a partner patent attorney from March 1, 2008.
Mr. Hong practiced for nineteen years as a patent examiner in the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and retired as a head of the E-Commerce Department of KIPO.
His brief history is as follows:
Academic background
1975. graduated from Yangjung High School
1982. graduated in Electrical Engineering Department at Engineering College of Hanyang University
1992 to 1995. graduated in Electrical Engineering Department at graduate school of Hanyang University
1997 to 1998. graduated in Law Department at Leiden University, the Netherlands (holding an MLL)
Career
1988. passed the Senior Technological Service Examination
1989 to 2007. practiced in KIPO for 19 years
as an examiner in the fields of Information, Communication and Computer
as a trial examiner in the Korean Industrial Property Tribunal
as a technical examiner in the Korean Patent Court
as a head of the E-Commerce Department
2004 to 2006. served in SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization
Since our firm뭩 patent attorneys have ten or more years of prior experience as examiners in the KIPO (Korean Intellectual Property Office) and extensive experience after leaving KIPO, they are able to achieve the best results in filing and prosecuting your patent/trademark/design applications before KIPO at reasonable attorney fees.
Our patent attorneys?personal experience and understanding of the technologies when representing our clients in litigation, including patent trials (including infringement and invalidation) and trademark trials, enables us to provide the highest quality services to our clients.
2. Now, it is in the patent dispute of materials for semiconductor chemical mechanical planarization (CMP)
CMP pads and slurry are typical materials for semiconductor CMP. Now, foreign companies dominating the market around the world by monopoly/oligopoly and Korean companies succeeded in the technology development and attempted to advance in the domestic market are under the patent disputes concerning the CMP pads and slurry, with making no concession.
The CMP pad related trial between 밨ohm and Hass? a US company holding 90% or more of the semiconductor CMP pad market around the world, and 밪KC? a Korean company has progressed in the Seoul district court and the Korean Supreme Court. Further, the trial related to the CMP slurry for planarizing a metal layer between 밅abot Microelectronics? a US company holding 75% of the CMP slurry market, and 밅heil Industries Inc.? a Korean company, has been proceeding in both the Seoul district court and the Korean Industrial Property Tribunal (KIPT).
Rohm and Hass filed an application for provisional disposition to prohibit patent infringement against SKC in the Soowon district court and the Seoul High Court but the application was rejected. However, the KIPT and the Korean Patent Court reached a decision that SKC indirectly infringed the patent of Rohm and Haas. Against this decision, SKC filed an appeal with the Korean Supreme Court. At present, the appeal is pending. Against SKC, Rohm and Haas has again applied for provisional disposition to prohibit patent infringement in the Seoul district court.
Against Cheil Industries Inc. which first developed the CMP slurry for planarizing a metal layer in Korea and has supplied the developed CMP slurry to Samsung Electronics, Cabot Microelectronics filed a patent infringement trial with the Seoul district court, alleging that Cheil Industries Inc. infringed their patent. As a countermeasure, Cheil Industries Inc. filed a trial for patent invalidation with the KIPT, asserting that the patent of Cabot microelectronics should be invalid.
3. The number of applications related to encapsulation of organic light emitting diode (OLED) display ?essential core technology for prolong a life of OLED
OLED, following LCD, is considered the next-generation display due to its characteristics of high revolution and ultra thin type. The number of patent applications related to the technology for OLED encapsulation has rapidly increased during the last few years.
Encapsulation is the technique of sealing OLED using metals, glass, multilayer thin films and the like. Encapsulation performs the function of preventing an element from deteriorating as moisture and oxygen permeate the element and absorbing external impacts. Therefore, encapsulation acts as an important variable of determining the life of an OLED element.
According to a report from KIPO (Commissioner: SangWoo JUN), an increase rate in the number of applications related to the encapsulation technology for five years from 2000 to 2005 is 63.6% per year. This rate is higher than a yearly average rate of 55.6% in the total number of applications related to OLED during the same period.
In 밅onsumer Electronics Show (CES) 2008?held in Las Vegas, the U.S.A., a Korean company, Samsung Electronics, and a Japanese company, Sony, respectively showed a 31-inch OLED TV and a 27-inch OLED TV. Therefore, it is noted that the competition in the OLED display market will be keen in the future.
4. Korea is 4th in ranking in the number of international patent applications filed in 2007
It is reported that Korea is 4th in world ranking in the number of international patent applications filed in 2007. As Korean companies, LG Electronics was 13th in world ranking in the number of international patent applications filed and Samsung Electronics was 20th.
WIPO conducted the search and analysis on the PCT international patent applications filed in 2007. As a result, the number of the international patent applications filed by Korea in 2007 was 7061, with an increase of 18.8% compared to that of 2006. Therefore, Korea was up from 5th in 2006 to 4th in 2007, following the U.S.A., Japan and the Germany.
By companies, LG Electronics was up from 16th in 2006 to 13th in 2007. LG Electronics filed 719 applications in 2007, with an increase of 152 applications compared to the number of the applications in 2006. Samsung kept the same place, 20th in ranking, with 598 applications. LG Chemical is 36th and ETRI is 41st, so that these companies are included the top fifty companies counted by WIPO.
In general, it is noted that China has been rapidly rising. Actually, the number of international patent applications field by China increased by 38.1% compared to that of 2006. The increase rate is greatest in world ranking. Among the top fifteen countries, the countries having the two-digit increase rate are only China and Korea (with 18.8%). Huawei, a Chinese company, rose from 13th in 2006 to 4th in 2007 by companies.
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