Securing strong intellectual property rights and effectively exercising such rights are of paramount importance in the chemical arts involving compounds, polymers, and metals in light of the rapid pace of technological development, high technical density, and intensifying competition.

Lee & Ko’s IP Practice Group is recognized as the premier partner for protecting clients’ intellectual property rights based on its long-standing litigation and trial experience in the chemical field.  Lee & Ko’s landmark experience spans the gamut of the IP world, including procurement of strong IP rights at the filing and registration stages, commercialization of IP, and “bet-the-company” dispute resolution.

Lee & Ko’s IP Practice Group has developed synergistic competitiveness through cooperation with in-house technical experts holding master's and doctorate degrees in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials engineering, and biochemistry.  Other members of team have served as patent examiners, IPTAB judges, and Patent Court judges. Lee & Ko is committed to providing client-centered legal services to meet the diverse legal needs of our clients.

More than 40% of Lee & Ko's IP professionals hold a technical or law degree from abroad, have practiced IP law in law firms overseas, or are licensed as foreign attorneys/patent attorneys, and able to provide top-notch client service at a global level.  In addition, the team includes former in-house counsels and corporate leaders who have worked in multiple global companies adding to Lee & Ko’s expertise in patent prosecution, litigation and advisory work.

Expertise

Assist foreign or Korean companies with patent prosecution work

Represent clients in filing Korean patent applications with the KIPO
Respond to the KIPO’s office action, carry out registration
Submission of information by third parties
Translate specification
Consult with inventor(s), draft Korean or foreign specification
Advise a client of response to an office action by an overseas patent office

Represent clients in patent disputes

Patent cancellation proceeding at the IPTAB
Patent invalidation action, scope confirmation action at the IPTAB
Support patent infringement action

Counseling and other services

Transfer of patent rights and license registration
Review possibility of registration of an IP right for newly developed technologies
Prior art research (including searching for patent invalidation materials)
Prepare patent map to provide direction on product development and predict likelihood of dispute
Freedom to operate (FTO) search
Provide consultation on establishing patent portfolio
Analyze competitor’s patent trends, or patent trends in specific technical fields