In light of the accelerating development costs of new technology in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical arts, the procurement of strong IP rights has become more important to establish competitiveness.  In addition, ever since the new patent linkage system was introduced in Korea, it has become more important than ever to manage and monitor patent rights in the pharmaceutical field.

Lee & Ko is proud to have an impressive Healthcare team with expertise that is unmatched and unrivaled.  Our team includes legal professionals who have earned PhDs in the fields of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, licensed physicians, and former pharmacists. Accordingly, our patent professionals are able to work with our client experts to understand the technology, business, and IP issues from start to finish.

Most notably, Lee & Ko’s patent attorneys use their broad range of experiences in IP litigation to provide the best solutions for prosecution work of our clients while also providing market-leading service when assisting our clients with patent enforcement and defense.  Lee & Ko also includes professionals who have formerly served as patent examiners, IPTAB judges, Patent Court judges, technical examiners at the Patent Court, and judicial researchers at the Supreme Court.

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 service

Support an application for market approval of pharmaceuticals before the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS)
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