1.  Korea PCT patent application ranks 5^th in the world with a share of 5.7%

 

The KISTEP (Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning) announced that the number of international patent applications of this country through the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) ranks 5^th in the world with 10,447 applications (5.7%) following America (26.7%), Japan (21.4%), Germany (10.2%) and China (9.0%).

 

To classify the share of PCT patent applications of this country by principal, companies shared 67.3%, individuals 17.7%, universities 10.0% and government research institutes 5.0%.  Of the companies, LG Electronics ranked 8^th with 1336 applications among the companies of the world and Samsung Electronics 15^th with 757 applications.  The first among the companies of the world in the PCT patent applications is ZTE of China and the second is Panasonic of Japan.

 

 

2. U. S. Congress considers a scheme for preventing excessive ITC lawsuits

 

According to a major foreign news service, the U. S. Congress is considering a scheme for preventing an abuse of the sale prohibition application through ITC patent lawsuit.  Usually a patent lawsuit proceeds in a U. S. district court, but an injunction order by a district court has become more difficult to get compared with the past, and the ITC procedures are preferred as they proceed much more smoothly.  But there are some criticisms that the sale prohibition application is accepted too easily in the ITC patent lawsuit.

 

In addition, “As the patent lawsuit proceeds simultaneously in the district court and ITC, the expenses are increasing two to three times,” they said.  It is also pointed out that companies that raise patent lawsuits request the district court and ITC for sale prohibition simultaneously, which incurs unnecessary expenses.

 

 

3. Supreme Court: “Not everybody can use the trademark of Jangsu Stone Bed”

 

The Supreme Court Section 2 (Chief Justice: Kim Yong-deok) announced on the 22^nd that it overturned the original decision ruling against the plaintiff in the suit raised by Jangsu Industry, which is famous for the advertisement, “A genuine Jangsu stone bed has five stars,” against Jangsu Stone Bed, Ltd., ordering “Do not use the same name”, and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court, ruling “Only Jangsu Industry can use the name, Jangsu stone bed.”

 

The Supreme Court said in the written judgment, “Whether or not a trademark is widely known should be judged comprehensively by taking into consideration the service period, the socially accepted idea of objective awareness, etc., but the original decision that judged the Jangsu stone bed not widely known just on the basis of the sales amount, the status of agents and the amount of advertising expenses was wrong.”

 

 

4. Geomedical disputes with GE over the trademark right of color lens

 

Geomedical, a small business of Gwangju producing color contact lenses filed an application for a Geomedical trademark with the Canada Patent Office before it put a color lens product on the market, but GE (General Electric), a global enterprise, made an issue of the use of the trademark through an official letter. 

 

GE conveyed a firm stand, saying, “The name Geomedical could be seen as an affiliate of GE and infringe on our company brand domain, so it cannot be used as a trademark; we will make your company take administrative and financial responsibilities if the product is on the market of Canada.”  Furthermore, the GE Canada Corporation has raised objections also to the Canada Patent Office.

 

 

5. Seoul High Court forbids Fox Korea from using the fox head

 

Fox Korea, a Korean clothing company, is no longer able to sell products with a design of a fox head attached. 

 

The Seoul High Court Civil Section 4 (Chief Judge Lee Gi-taik) announced on the 8^th that it overturned the original decision in the appellate trial of the suit for banning copyright infringement filed by Fox Head, a U. S. clothing company, against Fox Korea, and ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

 

The court ruled, “The fox head design falls under applied art copyright, so Fox Korea’s reproducing and exhibiting the design without permission by Fox Head constitutes an infringement upon copyright.”  The design expresses the fox head or English letters FOX in a powerful image, adding aesthetic elements, so it should be recognized as a unique creation, the court added. 

 

Further, the court judged, “Considering that Fox Head registered the trademark that used the design in more than 50 countries of the world, and Fox Korea posted ‘Korea distributorship, imported and customs cleared’, it is difficult to deem that the design was independently created.”

 

 

6. An entertainment bar using the name Chanel was ordered to pay damages of 10 million won

 

The Seoul Central District Court Civil Section 12 (Chief Judge Kim Hyun-suk) announced on the 21^st that it ruled in favor the plaintiff in the suit for banning the unfair competition practices and claiming damages filed by Chanel, a French luxury goods company, against the president Mr. Hwang of ‘Chanel Business Club”, an entertainment bar in Seongnam City, who used the company name Chanel, and ordered “pay damages of 10 million won and the use of the company name is prohibited.”

 

The representative Sarah Francois Ponce of Chanel filed the suit last April, emphasizing, “Chanel is a manufacturer of luxury goods representing France and is making sales of over 200 billion won a year on average in Korea, and the defendant has damaged the value by using the Chanel trademark to his entertainment bar to cash in on the reputation of Chanel.”