A landmark case involving the remodelling of luxury brand bags at the owner’s request has established legal principles on the trademark implications of such services, explains Min Son of Hanol IP & LawOn February 26 2026, the …READ MORE

Min Son of Hanol IP & Law analyses a Supreme Court ruling clarifying that prosecution history in a parent application can later limit the scope of divisional patent claimsThe South Korean Supreme Court has rendered a ruling cl…READ MORE

Min Son of Hanol IP & Law explains how the decision clarifies that multiple-word trademarks can infringe if an element serves as an essential distinctive partIn a recent decision (Case No. 2024Do8174), the Supreme Court of Sou…READ MORE

We are pleased to inform that, as of January 11, 2026, Hanol Intellectual Property & Law has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ClassHankyul Law Firm, to provide more comprehensive and integrated advisory…READ MORE

The Ministry of Intellectual Property (“MOIP”) has announced that the Amended Design Protection Act entered into force on November 28, 2025, to improve the Partial-Substantive Examination System (“PSES”) and to further safeguard t…READ MORE

A major South Korean patent dispute concerning the gastroesophageal reflux disease treatment K-CAB tablets (tegoprazan) reached a resolution on November 20 2025. The Korean Supreme Court affirmed earlier rulings in favour of the p…READ MORE

The South Korean Intellectual Property High Court (the IP High Court) has recently rendered a decision dismissing the use of the ‘abuse of right defence’ in invalidation actions. In the decision, given the difference in nature …READ MORE

Korean IP High Court, Case Nr: 023Na10693 In a significant decision for patent holders, Korea's IP High Court has ruled that a foreign company's online listings of products protected by Korean patents on a Chinese e-commerce p…READ MORE

On July 11, 2025, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) implemented a series of amendments to patent and utility model procedures aiming to ease administrative burdens for applicants. The two primary revisions include ext…READ MORE

In principle, patent rights are territorial. This generally means that they are only effective within the country of registration and that direct patent infringements require that all elements of the patented invention were pra…READ MORE

In South Korea, similar to the US and other countries, consumer surveys serve as evidence of consumer recognition or perception in trademark practice, including litigation.A trademark survey has varying probative value dependin…READ MORE

The South Korean Patent Act has been amended to include “exporting” as one of the acts encompassed by patent infringement. The new law takes effect on July 22 2025.Expansion of the acts constituting patent infringementArticle 2 …READ MORE

A new patent term extension (PTE) system will be implemented in South Korea starting July 22 2025. The extension will be capped at 14 years from the date of marketing approval (MA), and the number of patents that can be extende…READ MORE

From February 21 2025, a new regulatory data protection system will take effect in South Korea. This will replace the ‘de facto’ data exclusivity that has been provided by the existing drug re-examination system for post-market…READ MORE

In South Korea, a patent term extension (PTE) is available if a patent covers an approved drug or agrochemical product and it could not have been practised after grant due to regulatory approval requirements (Article 89 ofthe K…READ MORE