Amendment to the Design Protection Act seeking to protect GI designs is approved by the National Assembly
On March 24, 2021, amendment to the Design Protection Act seeking to protect graphic image (GI) designs (the Amendment) was passed during a plenary session of the National Assembly of Korea, meaning that the Amendment will go into effect six months after promulgation. The Amendment is expected to offer strengthened protection for emerging technologies such as projections, holographs, …
Successful Conclusion of Adequacy Talks between the Republic of Korea and the European Union
On March 30, 2021, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) and the European Commission jointly announced the successful conclusion of adequacy talks between the Republic of Korea (Korea) and the European Union (EU).
Korean Supreme Court Details Standard for Establishing Doctrine of Equivalents Infringement
In Korea, as in the United States and Japan, the recognition of patent infringement claims under the Doctrine of Equivalents (“DoE”) has been established by several key precedents. Recently, the Korean Supreme Court provided key guidance through detailed ruling standards for two of the three factors to establish DoE infringement, namely (1) the “Substantially Identical …
Recent Decision Involving Business Profits vs. Royalties Characterization under the US-Korea Tax Tree
Lee & Ko Tax Group is pleased to distribute this Tax Alert Newsletter to our clients and friends of an important tax case recently decided by the Seoul Administrative Court (2019Guhap70643, February 5, 2021) involving certain payment for the purchase of software by a Korean subsidiary to its US parent. This case appears to disagree …
Recent Decision Involving Business Profits vs. Royalties Characterization under the US-Korea Tax Treaty: PTC Korea Case Not Followed
Lee & Ko Tax Group is pleased to distribute this Tax Alert Newsletter to our clients and friends of an important tax case recently decided by the Seoul Administrative Court (2019Guhap70643, February 5, 2021) involving certain payment for the purchase of software by a Korean subsidiary to its US parent. This case appears to disagree …
Proposed Amendments to the Personal Information Protection Act
Introduction On January 6, 2021, the Personal Information Protection Committee (PIPC) proposed and announced for public comment significant amendments to the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) (the Proposed Amendments). We discuss some of the key aspects of the Proposed Amendments in greater detail below.
National Assembly Announces Major Accident Punishment Act
On January 8, 2021, the National Assembly passed new legislation titled the Major Accident Punishment Act (MAPA) as part of its initiative to demand greater accountability from corporate actors in the event of a large-scale accident. The MAPA’s legislative objective is to set forth more specific parameters on the management’s responsibility to ensure occupational health …
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Sweeping Changes to the Korean Criminal Procedures Starting in the New Year
A series of legislations affecting the criminal law landscape in Korea have been enacted since the end of 2019 e.g., ‘Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials Act’, ‘Prosecutor’s Office Act’ and ‘Criminal Procedure Act’, followed by the establishment of subsidiary laws and regulations. In addition, with the passage of the amendment bill of ‘High-Ranking Official’s …
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The KFTC rules that the Practice of Tying Patented LNG Technology with Engineering Assistance Services is Illegal
On November 25, 2020, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (the “KFTC”) imposed a fine of USD 11 million on Gaztransport & Technigaz (“GTT”), a multinational engineering company headquartered in France, for abusing its market dominance in liquefied natural gas (LNG) container tank technologies (the “LNG Technology”). Although GTT argued that the tying of its patented …
Bill to Amend the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act Passed by the National Assembly
In August 2018, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (the KFTC) drafted a bill to substantially amend the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (the MRFTA) and submitted the amendment bill to the National Assembly in November 2018. However, only certain portions of the amendment bill which dealt with procedural regulations were passed by the National …