Lee & Ko’s Japan team includes many legal professionals with degrees in various science and engineering fields, including the electrical/electronics, mechanical, pharmaceuticals/biotechnology, and chemistry arts, who are also fluent in Japanese. Our Japan team professionals are able to communicate seamlessly with our Japanese clients regarding any technical field enabling us to provide our clients with effective, efficient and high quality service.

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 filing, examination, litigation and advisory work.

Lee & Ko’s Japan team includes patent attorneys and attorneys who have worked at top Japanese law firms. We are continuing to build a close network and long-lasting relationships with local Japanese firms through cooperation and the mutual exchange of dispatched professionals.

With our premier staffing and global network, Lee & Ko’s Japan team is able to provide high-quality legal services and a one-stop solution for our Japanese clients who conduct business in Korea as well as for our Korean clients who wish to enter the Japanese market.

Expertise

Prosecution

Lee & Ko’s IP Practice Group provides a variety of services for our Japanese clients who wish to file and register patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks in Korea – from translating specifications to responding to office actions from the KIPO. To ensure that our foreign clients do not face any difficulties due to language barriers and different practices, our related experts provide timely appropriate guidance of procedures, substantive issues and updates through active communication with our clients.

For Korean clients who wish to file and register their IP in Japan, Lee & Ko provides top quality service through our patent attorneys experienced in overseas practice who prepare the overseas specification and other relevant documents in accordance with local practice. Lee & Ko also partners with local agents to respond to local office actions.

Lee & Ko also assists our clients with IPR transfers and license registrations that are oftentimes required in transactions between global companies or in M&A transactions.

Handle IP disputes

We represent our foreign clients in IPTAB trials and Patent Court litigations in Korea, while obtaining the best results for our Korean clients in IP disputes in Japan by closely cooperating with local counsel. We also provide appraisal services with respect to invalidation or infringement in order to prepare or respond to an IPTAB trial or IP litigation.

Research

At the request of our clients, we carry out research of prior art documents and prior patents that are disclosed in various languages in order to assist our clients in reducing risk before a patent invalidation action or a product launch. We also provide IP related consultations for clients, such as establishing a patent portfolio, analyzing trends in the client’s technical field or competitors’ patent activities.