Yoon & Lee > Seoul, South Korea > Firm Profile

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.

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

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.