1. Countermeasures to be prepared against Patent Troll NPE

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) plans to make countermeasures against Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs) which are causing controversy due to omnidirectional misuse of patent lawsuits. The FTC announced on the 4^th that it plans to make criteria for classifying problematic NPEs by revising the intellectual property right examination guidelines within this year, since malicious lawsuits play negative roles such as costs imputed to consumers and companies there is a necessity for international cooperation against NPEs.

According to the FTC, the number of patent infringement lawsuits raised by NPEs increased by about 3.5 times in 10 years from 235 in 2004 to 3,714 last year. Of these, the number of lawsuits raised against Korean firms such as Samsung and LG is high, ranking 2^nd and 10^th in the world, respectively.

2. FDA says Incrementally modified drugs are also subject to granted patent linkage

The Food and Drug Administration clarified on the 25^th that all medicines using the data of an original medicine could be subject to exclusive rights and selling restrictions.

If the granted patent linkage system is enforced from March 2015, all medicines (some of which are salts, including other incrementally modified drugs and composite incrementally modified drugs) using safety and effectivity data of an original medicine are likely to be subject to exclusive rights and selling restrictions.

Accordingly, such incrementally modified drugs can challenge original medicines to have the patent invalidated and a one-year exclusive right granted. However, when a company claims an exclusive right, it can claim it for only a medicine with the same components as those of its own medicine.

3. KRPIA opposes 'redemption of drug price to a patent right holder who loses a suit' in the revised bill of health insurance law

There is a 'partly revised bill of national health insurance law' whereby if a pharmaceutical company holding a patent right for an original medicine loses a patent lawsuit, the profit gained by maintaining the medicine price is deemed an unfair profit which can be redeemed. On this bill, the Korean Research-based Pharmaceutical Industry Association (KRPIA), whose membership includes multi-national pharmaceutical companies, expressed a dissenting opinion. It submitted also a written opinion that the relevant provisions should be repealed to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 19^th, the last day prior to the announcement of legislation.

The Association opposed the bill, saying redeeming the maintained portion of medicine price as unfair profit just because of the fact that a company lost in a patent suit is giving an unfair restriction to the behavior of good will of a pharmaceutical company trying to protect the patent, and added that it is also detrimental to the purpose of the granted patent linkage system to be enforced in March next year.

4. Intellectual Property Right Courts in three places including Beijing, China

The China Highest People's Court said in the 10^th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12^th National Convention of People's Representatives, Establishing the Intellectual Property Right Court will facilitate national creativity, innovation and development strategies and strengthen judicial protection capabilities related to intellectual property rights.

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are areas where intellectual property right disputes occur the most in China, so these three areas are the places where the Intellectual Property Right Courts are to be established to handle cases related to intellectual property rights such as patent rights. The Intellectual Property Right Court will handle mainly civil and administrative cases related to patent rights, new plant varieties, semiconductor blueprints, technological secrets, etc.