Lee & Ko’s China team professionals include patent attorneys and attorneys with engineering backgrounds who are also fluent in Mandarin and native Chinese attorneys with experience working in IP law firms in China. Having our professionals directly communicate with our Chinese clients in Mandarin boosts efficiency and effectiveness in the quality service we provide.

Lee & Ko’s IP team members are made up of professionals who have advanced degrees in technology and industrial fields and who have previously served as patent examiners, IPTAB judges, Patent Court judges, technical examiners at the Patent Court, and judicial researchers at the Supreme Court. Accordingly, we are able to provide market-leading legal services through our seasoned and specialized professionals.

Lee & Ko is well-recognized as the premier partner for protecting client’s intellectual property rights based on its extensive litigation experience. By leveraging this litigation experience, Lee & Ko IP practice group is able to procure strong IP rights at the filing and registration stages as well as provide practical counseling with the commercialization of IP. In addition, the team includes former in-house counsels and corporate leaders who have worked in various global companies who add to our IP expertise.

Most notably, Lee & Ko established its Beijing office on May 16, 2005 and we continue to provide comprehensive and systematic legal services for local cases as well as matters that concern both Korean law and Chinese law. Lee & Ko’s China team works collaboratively with our Chinese professionals at the Beijing office to provide real solutions to the ever-changing market situation tailored to our client’s unique needs.

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

Expertise

Prosecution

Lee & Ko’s IP Practice Group provides a variety of services for our Chinese 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 China, Lee & Ko provides top quality service through our Chinese attorneys and Korean patent attorneys experienced in overseas practice who work in cooperation to 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 China 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.