1. “Patent Box system should be introduced in order to activate a creative economy”

 

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry argued that a ‘Patent Box’ system should be introduced in order to activate the creative economy that is being encouraged by the government.  A patent box is a system whereby corporate tax is reduced for income generated by a patent or intellectual property. 

 

In its recommendation, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, “In the U. K., the patent box law came into effect in April this year and the corporate tax rate was reduced from 23% to 10% for patent income,” explaining, “Glaxo-Smith-Kline (GSK), a multinational pharmaceutical company, announced an investment of five hundred million pounds (about 880 billion won) proving that this has a significant impact on new job creation with more than 1,000 new jobs.”

 

 

2. ‘Jakparazzi Law’ for rewarding counterfeit informant passed

 

The National Assembly held a plenary session on the 25^th and passed unanimously a partly revised bill for law relating to unfair competition prevention and business secrets protection (also known as fake paparazzi law).

 

The partly revised bill defines ‘unfair competition acts’ as an act causing confusion with goods of others by selling, importing or exporting the goods using the ones similar to another’s name, company name and trademark that are widely known within the country and an act infringing on another’s economic gains by using intellectual property made with another’s considerable investment or effect without permission for one’s own business purpose.

 

The revised bill was passed by the Trade, Industry & Energy Committee of the National Assembly in April and the methods and standards of paying the reward money is to be specified by a Presidential Decree.

 

 

3. Japan to blockade technology leaks through reemployment by companies of Korea and China

 

The Japanese government will forestall any technology leaks through Japanese retirees who are reemployed by companies of Korea or China.

 

The Nihon Keizai Shmnbun reported on the 30^th that the Japanese Government would work together with Japanese industrial circles to launch a consultative group for prevention of technical information leaks and make rigorous guidelines for retiree management. The Japanese version of the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) proposed technical leaks prevention measures to the Japanese government and will play the role of supplying related foreign information to the participating companies. 

 

The OSAC that is to be launched in July will make guidelines for secret keeping agreements between a company and a retiree to cut off at the source any technology leaks to emerging countries through retired employees.  Further, the guidelines would be revised every six months to one year to cope with new technology leaking gambits.

 

 

4. U. S. to stop excessive suing for intellectual property rights by ‘patent trolls’

 

The U. S. government is to prevent patent holding companies known as ‘patent trolls’ from excessively filing suits for intellectual property rights.  This is for the development of technical fields and alleviation of litigation expenses for financial and retail companies.

 

U. S. President Barak Obama announced simultaneously on the 4^th (local time) five executive orders regulating patent dealing companies taking royalties and damages through lawsuits after buying patents and intellectual property rights only without substantial business activities and seven recommendations urging legislation by Congress.

 

This action was immediately welcomed by related companies such as Cisco, Google and Apple, as well as Tech America, a lobby group for technical fields.

 

 

5. U. S. Supreme Court rules “Human genes are not to be patented”

 

The U. S. Supreme Court ruled in two lawsuits raised by Myriad Genetics, a pharmaceutical company in Utah, for patent rights relating to genes, saying “Human genes are not to be patented.”  Myriad Genetics applied for patent rights for genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are known to increase the disease incidence risk of women’s breast cancer and ovarian cancer, and cancer patients and medical institutions and geneticists who revolted against this filed suits demanding this to be canceled.

 

Judge Clarence Thomas wrote in the judgment, “It is not appropriate that Myriad Genetics has patent rights for these two genes that are created by nature”.  Market Watch reported, The Supreme Court judgment is a victory for cancer patients, medical institutions and geneticists who revolted against gene patent rights.

 

 

6. Hite Jinro won ‘Max’ trademark right suit.

 

As Hite Jinro won the suit in the trademark right dispute against OB Beer over the premium beer brand ‘Max’ trademark right, it can now monopolize the trademark of the premium beer brand ‘Max’.  The patent court dismissed on the May 30^th, the trademark registration nullification trial raised by OB Beer against Hite Jinro contending that ‘Max”, the beer brand of Hite Jinro, has a dictionary definition ‘best, maximum’, so it has no recognizability.

 

The patent court clarified the reason for dismissal in the judgment, “Although Max has a dictionary meaning, ‘best and maximum’, it is not intuited as ‘beer of the best taste, beer of best quality’, etc. with regard to beer, so it has recognizability.”