Concentrated Jurisdiction System for Patent Infringement Cases to be Enforced from 2016

[Overview]
  · The plenary session of the National Assembly held at 14:00 on November 12, 2015 approved: (1) a revision bill of Civil Procedure Act; and (2) a revision bill of Court Organization Act.
  · Effective from January 1, 2016, patent and other IP-right infringement cases will be managed at concentrated jurisdictions in accordance with the two bills

[Major Changes in the Revision Bills]
1. What are the types of cases subject to concentrated jurisdictions
 · Case types: civil cases on merits following the infringement of patent rights, utility model rights, design rights, trademark rights and plant variety protection rights (claim for damage compensation, claim for prohibition of infringement, etc. caused by infringement of patent rights, etc.  hereinafter the “infringement litigation”)
 · The Patent Court is currently managing appeals of the above 5 IP cases filed for cancellation of Intellectual Property Tribunal decision (appeal litigation against the decision of Intellectual Property Tribunal decision on the validity of patent and other IP rights)

2. How is the jurisdiction changed?
 · Exclusive first-instance jurisdiction: 5 district courts in cities where high courts are located (Seoul Central; Daejeon; Daegu; Busan; and Gwangju)
     - Seoul Central District Court is subject to selective multiple jurisdiction
      → any party can choose to file their infringement litigation to Seoul Central District Court
 · Exclusive jurisdiction for second-instance appeal: The Patent Court
     - Regardless of whether the first instance trial was a single-judge or collegiate panel
 · Ex-ante and ex-post comparison of the revision

3. Would it undermine the accessibility of local residents?
 · Exclusive jurisdictions for first instance courts are established within the jurisdiction of the respective high courts; and systematic mechanism such as “case transfer system” is installed to prevent the shortcomings and side effects that may arise by operating exclusive jurisdictions
 · As the e-Court usage is significantly high for patent and other IP cases, expectation is that the accessibility would not be a big concern
    - Percentage of e-Court usage in patent cases is as high as 97% (as of February 28, 2015)
 · When parties file patent and other IP-right infringement litigations, parties generally file appeals against first-instance decision at the same time, which is currently managed by the Patent Court; therefore, dispute settlement at Patent Court is practically considered a necessary procedure
    - Thus, it is hardly regarded that the accessibility of residents outside the jurisdiction would be weakened although the Patent Court manages the appeals of patent and other IP-right infringement cases

4. From when are the revised laws enforced?
 · Concentrated jurisdictions for first instance cases
    - The revised laws will be applied to cases filed after January 1, 2016
 · Concentrated jurisdictions for appeal cases
    - The revised laws will be applied to civil cases on the infringement of patent rights, utility model rights, design rights, trademark rights and plant variety protection rights that were decided at the first-instance tribunal/court after January 1, 2016