Lee & Ko

Heon Lee joined Lee & Ko's IP Group in 2021 after a distinguished 15-year career as a judge in the Korean court system. While serving the Patent Court as a judge, and the Supreme Court as a research judge, he contributed to establishing many leading IP cases in the areas of patent, trademark, design, copyright, and unfair competition. His practice covers all areas of IP litigation, including patent, trademark, design, trade secret, unfair competition and copyright.

Education

2016	Seoul National University, Graduate School of Law - Ph.D. in Law
2014	George Washington University Law School - Visiting Scholar
2005	Seoul National University, Graduate School of Law - Master of Law
2003	Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Korea
2000	Seoul National University, College of Law - LL.B.

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Work Experience

2021-Present	Lee & Ko
2019-2021	Changwon District Court, Presiding Judge
2016-2019	Research Judge, Supreme Court of Korea (Intellectual Property)
2012-2016	Patent Court, Judge
2009-2012	Namwon Branch Court, Jeonju District Court, Judge
2006-2009	Daegu District Court, Judge
2003-2006	Judge Advocate Officer, Korean Army

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Admissions

2021	Admitted to the Korean patent bar
2003	Admitted to bar, Korea

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Languages

Korean, English and Japanese

Awards and Recognitions

2025	World Trademark Review 1000, Bronze rank - Enforcement and Litigation
2024	World Trademark Review 1000, Silver rank - Enforcement and Litigation

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Publications / Presentations / ETC

「A Study on Determination of Inventive Steps」(2017)

「IP Litigation Practice Ⅲ」(2014), co-author

「IP Litigation Practical Handbook Ⅱ」(2020), co-author

「ONJU's Patent Law Commentary」(2017), co-author

「ONJU's Design Protection Act Commentary」(2020), co-author

「A Study on the Authorship of Employee-Created Computer Programs」, Master's Thesis, Seoul National University Graduate School of Law(2005)

「A Study on Determination of Inventive Steps」, Ph.D.'s Thesis, Seoul National University Graduate School of Law(2016)

「Criteria for Specifying Charges Against Criminal Patent Infringement」, Supreme Court Case Commentary Issue No. 108 (2016)

「Criteria for Determining Novelty and Inventive Step for Selection Inventions」, Supreme Court Case Commentary Issue No. 112 (2017)

「Positive Requirements in the Doctrine of Equivalents」, Supreme Court Case Commentary Issue No. 116 (2018)

「Claiming Abuse of Rights in Design Infringement Cases」, Supreme Court Case Commentary Issue No. 118 (2019)

「Protection of TV Formats Under the Copyright Law」, Juris Issue No. 43 (2018)

「Identifying Distinctive Trademarks Containing Well-Known Geographical Names」, Juris Issue No. 46 (2018)

「Method Claims and Patent Exhaustion」, Juris Issue No. 48 (2019)

「A Study on Protection of Ideas」, Law & Technology Vol. 6 No. 1 (2010)

「Secondary Liability of Online Service Providers Relating to Copyright Infringement」, Law & Technology Vol. 15 No. 3 (2020)

「Criteria for Distinguishing Between Independent Claims and Dependent Claims」, IP Litigation Research Issue No. 7 (2017)

「A Study on the Creativity Requirements in the Design Protection Act」, Supreme Court Law Review Issue No. 71 (2020)

「Liability for Damages Relating to Reduction of the Original Drug Price After the Market Entry of Generic Medicines」, Special Law Review Issue No. 17 (2020)

「Protection of TV Formats Under the Copyright Law」, Supreme Court Law Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 (2018)

「Method Claims and Patent Exhaustion」, Supreme Court Law Journal Vol. 9 No. 2 (2019)

Main Issues on Inventive Step for Inventions - Judicial Research and Training Institute (2019, 2020)

Main Issues on IP Criminal Cases - Judicial Research and Training Institute (2020)

Patent Litigation Practice(Novelty, Inventive Step) - Judicial Research and Training Institute (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

International IP Court Conference attendance as a Speaker (2015, 2020)

Litigation for Cancellation of a Tribunal Decision Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal (2012)

Patent Litigation Practice Korean Patent Attorney Association (2012, 2013, 2015)

IP Litigation Practice Korean Patent Attorney Association (2016)

Inventive Step Determination for Inventions Seoul Bar Association (2016, 2018, 2020)

Decision-Explanation on Novelty and Inventive Step Requirement – Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal (2021, 2022, 2023)

Lecture on special issues of patent law – Graduate of law, Korea University(2022)

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Education

2016	Seoul National University, Graduate School of Law - Ph.D. in Law
2014	George Washington University Law School - Visiting Scholar
2005	Seoul National University, Graduate School of Law - Master of Law
2003	Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Korea
2000	Seoul National University, College of Law - LL.B.

Work Experience

2021-Present	Lee & Ko
2019-2021	Changwon District Court, Presiding Judge
2016-2019	Research Judge, Supreme Court of Korea (Intellectual Property)
2012-2016	Patent Court, Judge
2009-2012	Namwon Branch Court, Jeonju District Court, Judge
2006-2009	Daegu District Court, Judge
2003-2006	Judge Advocate Officer, Korean Army

Expertise

IP Litigation

Trade Secret · Company Information Protection

Responding to Unfair Competition

Healthcare · Life Sciences

IP Strategy Consulting

Employee Inventions

Game · Sports · Entertainment

Trademark · Design

Criminal Defense (Litigation)

Admissions

Admitted to the Korean patent bar(2021)

Admitted to bar, Korea(2003)

Languages

Korean, English and Japanese

Awards and Recognitions

2025	World Trademark Review 1000, Bronze rank - Enforcement and Litigation
2024	World Trademark Review 1000, Silver rank - Enforcement and Litigation

Publications / Presentations / ETC

「A Study on Determination of Inventive Steps」(2017)
「IP Litigation Practice Ⅲ」(2014), co-author
「IP Litigation Practical Handbook Ⅱ」(2020), co-author
「ONJU's Patent Law Commentary」(2017), co-author
「ONJU's Design Protection Act Commentary」(2020), co-author
「A Study on the Authorship of Employee-Created Computer Programs」, Master's Thesis, Seoul National University Graduate School of Law(2005)
「A Study on Determination of Inventive Steps」, Ph.D.'s Thesis, Seoul National University Graduate School of Law(2016)
「Criteria for Specifying Charges Against Criminal Patent Infringement」, Supreme Court Case Commentary Issue No. 108 (2016)
「Criteria for Determining Novelty and Inventive Step for Selection Inventions」, Supreme Court Case Commentary Issue No. 112 (2017)
「Positive Requirements in the Doctrine of Equivalents」, Supreme Court Case Commentary Issue No. 116 (2018)
「Claiming Abuse of Rights in Design Infringement Cases」, Supreme Court Case Commentary Issue No. 118 (2019)
「Identifying Distinctive Trademarks Containing Well-Known Geographical Names」, Juris Issue No. 46 (2018)
「Method Claims and Patent Exhaustion」, Juris Issue No. 48 (2019)
「A Study on Protection of Ideas」, Law & Technology Vol. 6 No. 1 (2010)
「Secondary Liability of Online Service Providers Relating to Copyright Infringement」, Law & Technology Vol. 15 No. 3 (2020)
「Criteria for Distinguishing Between Independent Claims and Dependent Claims」, IP Litigation Research Issue No. 7 (2017)
「A Study on the Creativity Requirements in the Design Protection Act」, Supreme Court Law Review Issue No. 71 (2020)
「Liability for Damages Relating to Reduction of the Original Drug Price After the Market Entry of Generic Medicines」, Special Law Review Issue No. 17 (2020)
「Protection of TV Formats Under the Copyright Law」, Supreme Court Law Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 (2018)
「Method Claims and Patent Exhaustion」, Supreme Court Law Journal Vol. 9 No. 2 (2019)
Main Issues on Inventive Step for Inventions - Judicial Research and Training Institute (2019, 2020)
Main Issues on IP Criminal Cases - Judicial Research and Training Institute (2020)
Patent Litigation Practice(Novelty, Inventive Step) - Judicial Research and Training Institute (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
International IP Court Conference attendance as a Speaker (2015, 2020)
Litigation for Cancellation of a Tribunal Decision Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal (2012)
Patent Litigation Practice Korean Patent Attorney Association (2012, 2013, 2015)
IP Litigation Practice Korean Patent Attorney Association (2016)
Inventive Step Determination for Inventions Seoul Bar Association (2016, 2018, 2020)
Decision-Explanation on Novelty and Inventive Step Requirement – Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal (2021, 2022, 2023)
Lecture on special issues of patent law – Graduate of law, Korea University(2022)

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Tel. +82-2-772-4000

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E-mail. mail@leeko.com