Korean IP Trial Board and Patent Court Counsel
Korean IP Trial and Litigation Counsel
for Foreign Associates
Support for Korean IP disputes, Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board trials, and Patent Court of Korea matters (the specialized high-court-level court with exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from Board decisions; its official English website uses the name Intellectual Property High Court of Korea).Attorney-led analysis, Korean filings, and English reporting.
A Korean IP Firm Built for Foreign Counsel
PATENT & LAW FIRM SODAM is a Seoul firm of Korean patent attorneys and attorneys-at-law. For foreign associates and their clients, we handle Korean IP disputes, trials before the Korean Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board, Patent Court appeals, evidence review, claim charts, and English reporting.
Data
Decision Data Foreign Counsel Can Use
Each card links to an English practice page and to the Korean statistics page that contains the underlying figures.
The statistical figures below are historical aggregate data from SODAM's analysis of public Korean decisions and judgments. Data cutoff: October 5, 2026; last updated: October 5, 2026. Result-classification corrections reflected on September 20, 2026. They are provided for issue framing and strategic discussion only, and do not guarantee any case result.
Patent invalidation trials
53.3%
Historical aggregate grant rate for Korean patent invalidation trials, useful for issue framing and evidence planning.
Negative scope confirmation
85.2%
Historical aggregate grant rate for negative scope confirmation matters in the Korean patent statistics resource.
Trademark registration cancellation
91.6%
Historical aggregate grant rate for all Korean trademark registration cancellation trials, including non-use cancellation. The figure is not limited to non-use cases.
Trademark invalidation
56.7%
Historical aggregate grant rate for Korean trademark invalidation trials involving distinctiveness and refusal grounds.
Design invalidation
56.0%
Historical aggregate grant rate for Korean design invalidation trials involving novelty, creativity, and visual similarity.
Patent Court appeal review
30.3–34.7%
Field-by-field cancellation-rate range used as reference data when assessing appeal from Korean IP Trial Board decisions.
Practice
Korean Matter Gateways
Korean IP proceedings are organized differently from those in many other jurisdictions. Choose the matter type closest to your situation; each card links to the English practice page and to the corresponding Korean page.
Patent dispute
Korean patent invalidation trial
For attacking or defending a Korean patent based on novelty, inventive step, written description, enablement, or claim-support issues.
Non-infringement defense
Korean scope confirmation trial
For determining whether a target product or process falls outside the scope of a Korean patent, design, or trademark right.
Court stage
Korean IP Trial Board decision appeal and Patent Court litigation
For appeals from Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board decisions and Korean court-stage dispute support requiring technical and legal issue control.
Trademark dispute
Trademark invalidation and opposition
For similarity, distinctiveness, prior rights, and brand-protection disputes involving Korean trademark rights.
Trademark cancellation
Trademark non-use cancellation
For clearing unused Korean marks or defending use evidence in cancellation proceedings.
Design dispute
Design invalidation and similarity
For product-shape disputes where overall visual impression, cited designs, partial design, and related design strategy matter.
Case notes
Selected Korean Trial and Litigation Case Notes
Each card below summarizes one case handled by this firm, including the reasoning applied, and links to the full Korean case note.
Warning-letter defense through scope confirmation
After receiving a patent infringement warning letter, a pet dryer seller filed a negative scope confirmation trial and relied on a free-to-practice defense and a missing claim element. In 2021 the Korean IP Trial Board confirmed that the accused product fell outside the patent's scope (Case No. 2019 Dang 4062).
Inventive-step defense against multi-reference attack
The petitioner split claim 1 into nine elements, mapped each to one of eleven prior-art references, and converted oxide percentages into elemental values to attack the claimed ranges. The Korean IP Trial Board rejected this as hindsight reconstruction and dismissed the invalidation petition in April 2026, keeping the colored-brick patent in force (Case No. 2025 Dang 780).
Trademark scope confirmation and dispute positioning
The owner of a registered service mark for restaurant services sought a positive scope confirmation ruling against a restaurant sign that combined a place name, a food term, and the mark's distinctive word. In September 2025 the Korean IP Trial Board treated the distinctive word as the dominant element, rejected the trade-name-use defense under Article 90 of the Korean Trademark Act, and confirmed that the sign fell within the registered mark's scope (Case No. 2024 Dang 1460).
Attorneys
Attorney-Led Korean IP Work
Matters are handled directly by SODAM's two representative attorneys. The summaries below are taken from the Korean profile page, which is linked from each profile.
Injae Yeo
Representative Korean Patent Attorney
- 40th Korean Patent Attorney Examination, 2003
- LG Electronics Excellent Representative Award, 2008
- Patent trials, IP disputes, and prosecution strategy
Kyojun Seo
Representative Korean Patent Attorney and Attorney at Law
- 38th Korean Patent Attorney Examination, 2001
- 3rd Korean Bar Examination, 2014 (attorney-at-law)
- IP trial, litigation, and legal-procedural coordination
Why Foreign Associates Work with SODAM
- Korean IP prosecution, trial, and dispute experience
- Practical understanding of the Ministry of Intellectual Property (MOIP, formerly KIPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board, and Korean IP court procedures
- Claim-by-claim and evidence-based analysis
- English reporting for foreign counsel
- Direct communication with Korean patent attorneys
How We Work
1. Initial Review
We review the office action, trial petition, decision, prior art, claims, drawings, and available evidence.
2. Strategy Proposal
We identify key issues, risks, evidence gaps, amendment options, and recommended Korean response strategies.
3. Drafting and Filing
We prepare Korean filings, arguments, amendments, claim charts, opinions, and supporting materials.
4. Reporting
We provide English reports to foreign counsel and coordinate next steps according to procedural deadlines.
Questions
FAQ
- Why should foreign counsel review Korean IP Trial Board statistics before choosing Korean counsel?
- Korean IP Trial Board statistics help foreign counsel understand dispute patterns, likely issue focus, evidence needs, and appeal-entry judgment. They should be used as reference data, not as a prediction or guarantee of a particular case outcome.
- What Korean IP disputes does SODAM handle for foreign associates?
- SODAM assists with patent invalidation trials, scope confirmation trials, appeals from Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board decisions, trademark invalidation and cancellation matters, design invalidation matters, office action responses, and Korean IP dispute opinions.
- Can SODAM communicate and report in English?
- Yes. SODAM provides English communication and reporting while preparing Korean filings, evidence analysis, claim charts, and submissions through qualified Korean professionals.
- What materials should be sent for an initial Korean IP dispute review?
- Helpful materials include the office action, trial petition, Korean IP Trial Board decision, court decision, claims, specification, drawings, cited prior art, warning letters, target product materials, and any foreign prosecution or litigation history.
- Do the statistics on this page guarantee a result?
- No. The statistics are historical aggregate data from public Korean decisions and judgments. Each case depends on its own claims, evidence, procedural posture, legal issues, and technical facts.
Contact
Need Korean IP Support?
Please send the office action, trial petition, Korean IP Trial Board decision, court decision, claims, drawings, cited references, warning letter, or product comparison materials for a preliminary review.