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Highway for US patent registration is opened (148)

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KH

Post Date¡¡

2008-07-16

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1. Highway for US patent registration is opened

- It has now been confirmed that examination results by USPTO through the Patent Prosecution Highway are rendered faster by up to 22 months.

When a patent application is filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO: Commissioner: Jungsik KOH) or the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) through the Patent Prosecution Highway between KIPO and USPTO, the examination results of the application are received much faster than an application filed through the general route.

KIPO reviewed the actual results of operating the Patent Prosecution Highway between KIPO and USPTO which took effect from January 28, 2008. As the result, a patent application filed by US Microsoft (MS) was the first patent registered in Korea, among other patent applications filed through the Patent Prosecution Highway between KIPO and USPTO. This application had been patented within 2 months from the date on which MS filed the request for examination of the application with KIPO, using the Patent Prosecution Highway. When considering that an examination process term for a patent application filed through a general route is about 10 months, the examination results of the application filed by MS is received faster by at least 8 months.

It is also confirmed that LG Electronics have received the examination results of their application within 3 months after filing the request for examination of the application with USPTO, using the Patent Prosecution Highway. When considering that the examination process term for a patent application filed through the general route is 25 months on average, the examination of the application of LG was conducted by about 22 months faster.

Bart Eppenauer of MS, the chief in charge of patent-related matters, said, ¡°We are pleased that MS¡¯ application has been first patented, among the patent applications filed through the Patent Prosecution Highway between KIPO and USPTO¡±. He also added, ¡°We applaud for the efforts of KIPO which has been taking a leading role in developing the worldwide patent administration through the Patent Prosecution Highway, and we expect that the Patent Prosecution Highway will contribute to better cooperation among the patent offices in the world.¡±

A spokesman of LG Electronics said, ¡°We received from USPTO the examination results of the patent application related to our latest technology, which needs to secure its patent right without delay, faster by about 20 months, or more, than an application examined through the general route. Therefore, we are very satisfied with the effect of the Patent Prosecution Highway to shorten the examination term.

After operating the trial program of the Patent Prosecution Highway between KIPO and USPTO for 1 year from January 28, 2008 to January 28, 2009, both will likely decide to utilize the Patent Prosecution Highway.


2. The number of patent applications filed by China (about 1,400,000 in 2007) is about five times the number of patent applications filed by the Republic of Korea

The number of applications for patent and other intellectual property rights filed by China is rapidly increasing by about five times the number of those filed by Republic of Korea (hereinafter, referred to as ¡®Korea¡¯).

The number of applications for intellectual property rights filed by China is 1,400,000 with an average increase rate of 19.8% per year, for the last seven years after China joined in the World Trade Organization.
Specifically, the number of patent applications filed by China increased by an annual average of 25.3% and the number of design applications filed by China increased 28.1%.

Further, the number of Chinese applicants filing the patent applications in China is greatly increasing.

In 2007, the number of Chinese applications filed by domestic Chinese applicants was 62.4% of the total number of Chinese applications filed in China, a great increase when compared to 53.9% in 2003 when the number of applications filed in China by Chinese applicants passed the number of applications filed in China by foreign applicants.

This means that the technological developments of China have progressed to secure their own technology and not the simple imitation of technology.


3. Six major companies related to the World Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-Max) technology organized the common patent alliance.

Major companies related to the Wi-Max technology organized a common patent front to distribute proper royalties.

The six companies, i.e., Samsung Electronics, Intel, Sysco Systems, Sprint Nextel, Alcatel-Lucent, and Clearwire, announced that they organized the Wi-Max ¡®Open Patent Alliance¡¯.

According to these six companies¡¯ plan, consumers who purchase the Wi-Max including a notebook which includes Wi-Max network equipment, and the like, pay proper royalties for the Wi-Max patents.

The well-informed sources on the organization of this Alliance expected that the Wi-Max royalties will be lower than the rate applied to the third-generation mobile phones.

Experts indicated the tasks to be solved regarding this Alliance. That is, they pointed out that the competition standard, ¡®Long Term Evolution (LTE)¡¯, already exists and major patentees related to the Wi-Max and LTE technologies, for example, Motorola, Qualcomm, do not participate in the Alliance.


4. Phicom put an end to the patent dispute with FormFactor of US

Regarding the probe card patent, Phicom put an end to the offensive and defensive battle with FormFactor, a US company, which has been pending for about 4 years.

According to Phicom (CEO: Ougki LEE, www.phicom.com), which is a Korean company manufacturing semiconductor and LCD testing equipment, the judgment in the decision announced on June 26, 2008 by the Korea Supreme Court was given for Phicom in the suit with FormFactor, a competitor. In the patent disputes which had been pending for more than 52 months, all of FormFactor¡¯s four patents were invalidated by the decisions of the Supreme Court including this judgment. Therefore, the patent disputes between Phicom and FormFactor, started in 2004, were terminated.

When Phicom advanced with the MEMS card, independently developed by investing more than 40,000,000,000 Korea Won, in the probe card market in 2003, FormFactor brought the four patent infringement cases in February 2004, starting the patent disputes between Phicom and FormFactor.

Phicom counteracted against the patent infringement cases, by filing the patent invalidation trials. As a result, three of four patents of FormFactor were invalidated by the decisions of the Supreme Court and only one patent remained as valid. However, as the Supreme Court invalidated the one remaining patent on June 26, 2008, all four patents of FormFactor have finally lost their enforcement effects.
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