Korean Supreme Court Confirms Licensee’s Standing to Challenge Patent Validity
On February 21, 2019, the Supreme Court of Korea issued an en banc decision overruling its prior precedents on the issue of whether a licensee who is continuing to make royalty payments under an existing license agreement nevertheless has standing to challenge the validity of the licensed patent. In short, the Korean Supreme Court held …
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Amendments to the KFTC Merger Review Guidelines
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (the “KFTC”) recently amended its Guidelines for Merger Review (the ”Guidelines”), which took effect from February 27, 2019. The Guidelines now provide for particular issues relating to “innovation markets” and “big data” that will be considered during the KFTC’s review of mergers within R&D-intensive (i.e. innovative) industries.
Korea strengthens protection against IP infringement and unfair competition (Amendment of the Patent
Korea strengthens protection against IP infringement and unfair competition (Amendment of the Patent Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act) On December 7, 2018 the Korea National Assembly approved a bill to amend the Patent Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act (“UCPA”). Highlights of the proposed amendments include stronger penalties …
Korean TR, Finally and Officially Coming Soon
Korean TR, Finally and Officially Coming Soon Korea is finally adopting a trade repository (“TR”), which is an infrastructure that collects and stores data related to over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives transactions. The Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) has decided to implement the TR system by making amendments to the Regulations on Financial Investment Business (which is aligned …
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Key Changes to Korean Labor Standards Act in 2019
Key Changes to Korean Labor Standards Act in 2019 In 2018, Korea experienced major reforms to the employment laws including, but not limited to, the Labor Standards Act. For example, many employers scrambled – many are still struggling – to adjust their work hour structures to comply with the new 52-hour work hour limit. In …
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Direction of Financial Regulatory Environment of Korea in 2019: Legislation Supporting Financial Inn
Direction of Financial Regulatory Environment of Korea in 2019: Legislation Supporting Financial Innovation and Reform of Supervisory System For 2019, it is expected that the financial regulatory/legislative environment will see further developments along two key tracks, with one track consisting of the enactment of special laws favoring new business initiatives aimed at promoting innovation in …
Korean Financial Regulators Advance Legislation to Introduce Regulatory Sandbox to Spark FinTech
Korean Financial Regulators Advance Legislation to Introduce Regulatory Sandbox to Spark FinTech The 2018 year in review in Korea was notable for the sluggish overall economy, uncertainty surrounding the geo-politics and impact on Korea due to the global trade wars, on-going concerns related to the lack of jobs and unemployment, increased taxes and burdens for …
Flying Under the Radar
Flying Under the Radar: Companies Must Increase Awareness of the Potentially Dormant and Disruptive Changes to the Minimum Wage in Korea Korea has experienced unprecedented yearly increases to the statutory minimum wage since 2017 in addition to changes in the applicable legislation. While companies are aware of the more patent impacts of the recent major …
New Legislation: Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies
New Legislation: Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies The amendment to the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies (the “Act”) and the enforcement decree thereof (the “Enforcement Decree”), whose key feature pertains to the external audit and disclosure requirements for limited liability companies, became effective as …
New Proposed Tax Law Amendments Provide Clarification on the Taxation of Foreign Funds
On July 30, 2018, the Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance (“MOEF”) announced the proposed tax law changes/amendments for 2019 and beyond (“Proposals”). The Proposals are expected to be reviewed and finalized by the Korean National Assembly in December 2018. Some key Proposals that should be of great interest to private equity funds and other …