Korean Patent Court hosts 2015 International IP Court Conference

¡Ü [Overview] The Patent Court of Korea hosted 2015 International IP Conference on “Court, IP and Innovation” from October 14 to 15 at the Conference Room of the Patent Court in Daejeon Metropolitan City.

¡Ü [Features] Unlike typical IP conferences where professors and lawyers participate and present, a number of IP courts’ chief judges and IP-specialized judges from the U.S., Germany, Japan, China and Korea participated at the Conference to compare the patent litigation practices of each country and to seek for improvement and cooperation measures.

¡Ü [Major Participants] The renowned participants to the Conferences includes: (1) President Beate Schmidt of the German Federal Patent Court, which is one of the two most renowned courts along with the U.S. courts in settling global IP litigations; (2) Chief Judge Rubén Castillo of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, where major patent cases such as Apple v. Motorola are handled; Chief Judge Castillo is often mentioned at the Obama Administration as the next candidate for U.S. Supreme Court Justice; (3) Judge Gregory Sleet of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, which is one of the two courts that handles largest number of patent cases along with the District Court for the District of Texas; Judge Sleet is a noted IP-specialist judge who served seven years as the Chief Judge of the Delaware District Court, and the very first African-American U.S. Attorney and Judge from Delaware; (4) Chief Judge Ryuichi Shitara of the Intellectual Property High Court of Japan; (5) Judge Trenga of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, which is nicknamed Rocket Docket for its expeditious disposition of patent cases; and (6) IP-specialized judges from newly established Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court of China.

¡Ü [Session of Chief Judges] In the first session, chief judges discussed how to harmonize and cooperate with patent courts of each country to settle globally intertwined IP cases that simultaneously take place in multiple countries. The session was the very first venue that convened chief judges of countries with major IP courts to discuss the cooperation between the courts of each nation.

¡Ü [Discussion on the Unified Patent Court] A member of the Preparatory Committee of the Unified Patent Court was invited to the Conference as well. The UPC is operating Training Center for European patent judges and making devoted efforts for preparatory works for its opening. Williem Hoyng provided analysis of the prospect of UPC’s influence over the European and the world’s patent disputes and discovered the possibility of establishing a similar unified patent court in Asia.

¡Ü [Contradicting judgments between the Korean court and U.S. court on a case of KRW 160 billion] According to Korea Health Insurance Service, the drug with largest amount claimed for pharmaceutical patent was Entecavir for chronic hepatitis B, amounting at 160 billion won (approximately 160 million dollars). In the U.S., the case was appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from the Delaware District Court. While the CAFC invalidated the patent for its substance, Korean Patent Court maintained the patent validity intact in September.

¡Ü [Contribution to the establishment of an international groundwork to realize IP hub court] By strengthening the expertise and international stature of the Korean Patent Court as the first-ever IP court in Asia, it aims to realize “IP hub court” which refers to a pivotal court to resolving global IP disputes. Establishing an IP hub court requires an international trial panel as a physical foundation (decision on the establishment of an international trial panel was made in the second meeting for IP Hub Court Establishment Committee); human resource pool of judges specialized in IP cases (planned to be discussed at the fifth meeting of the Committee on November 16, 2015); etc. Above all, it requires a venue for international exchanges on IP cases in Asia. The 2015 International IP Conference therefore provided an international foundation to realize establishing the IP hub court.