Yoon & Lee > Seoul, South Korea > Firm Profile
Yoon & Lee Offices
3RD FL. ACE HIGHEND TOWER-5
3RD FL. 226, GASAN DIGITAL 1-RO, GEUMCHEON-GU
SEOUL 08502
South Korea
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Yoon & Lee > The Legal 500 Rankings
South Korea > Intellectual property: local firms Tier 1
With a team that is ‘very knowledgeable both in domestic and overseas jurisdictions’, Yoon & Lee is a well-regarded patent prosecution firm, regularly active for both domestic and international clients. The firm is home to experts in the fields of chemistry, pharmaceuticals, mechanics, and cosmetics, among others. The ‘extremely responsive and reliable’ team is especially skilled at handling trademark and design infringement cases. Dong-yol Yoon, managing partner and founder of the firm, has almost four decades of experience navigating the IP landscape, and has a focus on the chemistry and biotech sectors. Sang-yong Lee is in charge of the trademark and design team, while Byeong-ok Song focusses on matters within the mechanical sector. Ji-man Park heads the telecommunications division within the firm and is recommended for IP matters relating to major electronic companies. Other prominent members of the team include Yong-won Lee, who is at the forefront of the standard patent team, and Seong-ki Kim, a US attorney and Korean patent attorney, who joined from Lee & Ko in 2022.Practice head(s):
Ji-man Park; Yong-won Lee; Byeong-ok Song; Sang-yong Lee; Dong-yol Yoon
Other key lawyers:
Testimonials
‘Yoon & Lee professionals provide regularly updated information, and are extremely responsive and reliable.’
‘They have ample experience in working with international clients from large entities to small entities. Their members are technically sharp and legally up to date.’
‘Their staff are very punctual, and their billing rate is very reasonable. Highly competent attorneys oversee every aspect of handling their IP matters.’
‘All the attorneys are very knowledgeable, both in domestic and overseas jurisdictions.’
‘Yoon & Lee responds to our inquiries in a timely manner and provides clients with professional and cost-effective analysis to help them adjust their patent filing strategy.’
‘Dong-yol Yoon, the managing Partner of Yoon & Lee, leads his team effectively and professionally.’
Key clients
Samsung Electronics
Amore Pacific
ASML Holding
Narae Nanotech
Murata Manufacturing
Adeka Corporation
Nippon Steel Chemical
Daio Paper
Stripe Inc.
Great Wall Motor
Technofoam
Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics
NewSouth Innovations
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Reliance Industries (India)
Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology
Gachon University
Korea Electronics Technology Institute
Work highlights
- Obtained a patent for a medical device for Blink Device LLC.
- Successfully appealed against the rejection of an industrial design application by KeepCut Pty Ltd before the Appellate Board.
Yoon & Lee > Firm Profile
The firm: Yoon & Lee was founded in 1989 by Mr Dong-yol Yoon, one of the leading figures in the Korean IP sector and a former head of the Korean Patent Attorneys Association. The firm has a wide range of clients in terms of geographical distribution and industrial sector and also ranging from established global operations to small and medium sized enterprises. The firm’s philosophy is to create strong trust-based relationships as reflected in the near 30-year long relationships developed with some of Korea’s most famous companies. We believe that honesty and a reputation for excellence leads to satisfaction for clients and a good reputation for the firm.
In particular, we are well-known for the high percentage of patent attorneys and technical specialists in comparison with general law firms and other patent law firms in Korea, which allows us to offer an efficient and effective combination of patent attorneys, former KIPO examiners, foreign attorneys, and technical advisors with advanced degrees. This has enabled us to develop a strong reputation for patent filing, prosecution, and registration, both in Korea and overseas, especially in the electronics, software, mechanical, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and biochemical sectors.
In the past year, the firm has continued to expand while strengthening its services especially in the chemistry/bio-tech and machinery sectors. In particular, there has been a notable increase in requests from small and medium-sized companies for patent prosecution work, while leading major clients have begun to increase their patent work again after easing back during the covid pandemic. Also, the firm gained a major new overseas client, ASML Holding, one of the world’s leading makers of chip-making equipment. In addition, the trademark and design sector has continued to strengthen under the leadership of Mr Sang-yong Lee, a former trademark examiner at the Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO).
Areas of practice: Yoon & Lee’s services cover all aspects of intellectual property rights (IP) with a specialization in the prosecution of patents, utility models, trademark, and design applications, but also including litigation, copyright protection, licensing agreements and assignments, and technology valuation and transfer services.
For patents, the firm provides effective and efficient services for domestic and international patent rights, especially in high technology fields such as electrical engineering, electronics, telecommunications, machinery, chemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and life sciences. While we have great experience and expertise in litigation activities, the primary focus of our patent prosecution services is to obtain effective patents for our clients in the most efficient manner and avoid having to enter into litigation before the patent courts. As a result, most of our prosecution work proceeds successfully with relatively little need to engage in litigation activities.
The electronic and software and telecommunications sectors are overseen by Mr Ji-man Park and Mr Yong-won Lee. Mr Park has an excellent reputation for his technical and legal knowledge and has advised major companies and the courts on technical issues and IP rights, while Mr Lee has over 15 years’ experience as a patent attorney and is proficient in 3GPP LTE & LTE-A and 5G communication standards. Mr Byeong-ok Song is in charge of the mechanical and mechatronics, optics, semiconductors, and electrical and electronics sectors as well as promotion of inbound cases. He has an MS in physics, an LLM (USA), and over 30 years’ experience as a patent attorney. A new member of the mechanics team is Mr Jun-young Bak, an ex-examiner and trial examiner at KIPO and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Mr Dong-yol Yoon, as well as being managing partner, heads the chemical and biochemical sector, which also includes Mr Seongki Kim, a noted expert in Korea for patent prosecution and litigation and a US-qualified attorney-at-law.
The trademark and design team headed by Mr Lee also includes a US-qualified attorney (Ms Jaewon Yoon) with a background in IP to provide a global perspective and a Korean attorney-at-law (Mr Ju-ho Jeong) for litigation activities. The team acts for businesses in all market sectors from established global organizations to small and medium sized enterprises and a globally expanding franchise operation. It is building a growing overseas reputation and handles trademark filings and registrations from clients in the USA, China, Japan, the EU, South America, and Southeast Asia as well as local Korean clients.
Main Contacts
Department | Name | Telephone | |
---|---|---|---|
Patent and utility model registration, prosecution, invalidation, infringement, and litigation; technology transfer and valuation; licensing agreements and assignments | Byeong-ok Song | boslaw@yoonpat.com | |
Jaewon Yoon | Trademark and design filing, prosecution, infringement and litigation; copyright protection | Jaewon Yoon | jwyoon@yoonpat.com | |
Unfair competition and anti-counterfeit measures; consultation on establishment and protection of IP rights | Dong-yol Yoon | yoon@yoonpat.com |
Lawyer Profiles
Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
---|---|---|---|
Mr Ju-ho Jeong | Senior Partner Patent Attorney, Attorney at Law | View Profile | |
Mr Seong-ki Kim | Associate, US Attorney at Law | View Profile | |
Mr Sang-yong Lee | Senior Partner Patent Attorney | View Profile | |
Mr Yong-won Lee | Senior Partner Patent Attorney | View Profile | |
Mr Seong-hee Lee | Senior Partner Patent Attorney | View Profile | |
Ms Ki-won Na | Senior Partner Patent Attorney | View Profile | |
Mr Ji-man Park | Senior Partner Patent Attorney | View Profile | |
Mr Byeong-ok Song | Senior Partner Patent Attorney | View Profile | |
Mr Dong-yol Yoon | Managing Partner | View Profile | |
Ms Jaewon Yoon | Associate, US Attorney at Law | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Total : 88 Patent attorneys and technical experts : 56Languages
Korean English Japanese ChineseMemberships
World Intellectual Property Association of Korean Practitioners Asian Patent Attorney Association (APAA) INTA - International Trademark AssociationClient testimonials
CLIENT: Sunhee LEE, Partner
COMPANY/FIRM: Sughrue Mion, PLLC
TESTIMONIAL: “We were impressed by YOON & LEE’s commitment to providing the best solutions and taking time to discuss with us both the technical and legal issues.”
CLIENT: Yoshitaka TANINO, Vice President/Intellectual Property Dept.
COMPANY/FIRM: Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
TESTIMONIAL: “Mr. Byeong-ok Song, leading the incoming team of this firm, was very approachable and demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the technical issues of our inventions. Mr. Song’s thoroughness and attention to detail in ensuring we received adequate patent protection has been most impressive.”
CLIENT: Gi-Beum HONG, Marketing/Team manager
COMPANY/FIRM: LitePharmTech Co., Ltd.
TESTIMONIAL: “The Trademark/Design team showed a deep understanding of trademark issues and were very cooperative in enabling us to register trademarks smoothly and efficiently.”
CLIENT: Sam KO, Manager/Overseas Department
COMPANY/FIRM: Credere Co., Ltd.
TESTIMONIAL: “Mr. Sang-yong Lee has an excellent understanding of trademark issues and was very cooperative in enabling us to register trademarks efficiently and without any problems arising.”
CLIENT: Hyun-Kyong SEO, CEO
COMPANY/FIRM: SEOYOON Pediatric Clinic
TESTIMONIAL: Ms. Jaewon Yoon provides clear explanations of the law that make it easy for lay people to understand.
International Capabilities
Yoon & Lee is heavily engaged in various international activities, both in terms of involvement in international organizations and prosecution of IP cases.
In particular, we are a member and actively involved in:
- Asian Patent Attorney Association (APAA), a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting and enhancing intellectual property protection in the Asian region (including Australia and New Zealand). Several senior partners including Mr. Byeong-ok Song and Mr Seong-ki Kim are APAA members, and Mr. Dong-yol Yoon is a member of the Council. Also, Mr. Yoon is a former president of the APAA Korea Group and helped to organize the APAA Council Meeting in Korea in 2010. At the APAA Council Meeting in Busan, Korea, in 2022, Mr. Ji-Man Park and Ms Jaewon Yoon were members of the organizing committee.
- International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI). AIPPI is the world’s leading non-profit association dedicated to the development and improvement of laws for the protection of intellectual property. Mr. Seong-ki Kim is a member and a former president of AIPPI Korea. Ms. Jaewon Yoon is a director of the AIPPI Korea Group and a member of the Young AIPPI members Advisory Committee.
- International Trademark Association (INTA) – INTA is a global network of brand owners and professionals dedicated to supporting trademarks and related intellectual property. We attend every INTA Annual Meeting.
- International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) – the FICPI is the only international NGO whose membership consists entirely of IP attorneys in private practice. Mr. Yoon was a member for about 20 years.
Yoon & Lee has also developed an extensive international network of “best friend” IP law firms, which enables us to provide IP services for most jurisdictions around the world. We have had a close relationship with some of these firms for over 20 years. Our clients also come from a range of geographical backgrounds, for example:
Samsung Electronics – Korea
Murata Manufacturing – Japan
Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC – USA
Stripe Inc. – USA
French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission – Europe
ASML Holding – Europe
Great Wall Motor – China
Our expertise and ability has also been recognized by several international organizations. In addition to rankings by legal directories such as Legal 500, we have also been named as the winner of the Boutique IP Law Firm of the Year in Korea by both Corporate INTL and the Lawyer Network for the past several years. In addition, we have been short listed as a finalist for the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Korean Law Awards from 2017 to 2023.
We are able to provide our international clients with fluent services in English, Japanese, and Chinese, as well as Korean. We offer full translation services among these languages and also translations to and from Korean for all languages.
Spotlights
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (LOCAL FIRMS)
Yoon & Lee is a specialist IP law firm with over 30 years of experiencing in providing the highest quality services to leading domestic and foreign companies. The firm provides a comprehensive range of IP services from prosecution and litigation for patents and trademarks to consultation services for management and enforcement of IP rights.
In particular, the firm is renowned for its technical expertise with a high percentage of patent attorneys and technical experts (over 50 out of a total staff of 88) compared with general law firms and other patent law firms in Korea. This enables us to offer an efficient combination of patent attorneys, domestic and foreign attorneys, a former KIPO examiner, and technical experts with advanced degrees in their specialist subjects such as electrical engineering, electronics, communications, computer science, mechanical engineering, chemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and life sciences. Our specialists are often called to testify as expert witnesses in court cases.
In addition to our skills and experience, our main corporate values are sincerity, reliability, and harmony, which are reflected in our work practices. First, all staff members strive to increase their professionalism and work skills so that they are able to meet the ever changing technological advances as well as developments in the laws, policies, and legal cases in various jurisdictions. Second, we provide quick, accurate, and specialized services to satisfy our clients’ requests while solidifying trust and establishing long-term client relationships. Third, all our staff cooperate and work together actively to provide comprehensive services that benefit from their combined experience and skills.
Based on such values along with the technical knowledge and long IP experience of our partners, we are able to offer optimized services to satisfy a wide range of clients. Our emphasis on client satisfaction is reflected in the long-term relationships that we have developed with major domestic and foreign companies. Also this has enabled us to reach a wide range of clients ranging from global corporations to small and medium sized enterprises. All our clients, no matter their size or history, receive the same high quality service. In particular, all cases receive the highest level of attention from our senior practitioners rather than cases being delegated to junior level staff, with all the partners continuing to be active in case work.
Please do not hesitate to contact us and find out how we can assist you and ensure smooth progress for any IP issues in Korea. We are sure that you will not be disappointed by our commitment to ensuring your satisfaction.
- Intellectual property: local firms