Korea Intellectual Property Office tribunal, patent attorneys open joint study group

The Korea Intellectual Property Office said Thursday its Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board and the Korean Patent Attorneys Association launched a joint study group on the intellectual property trial system, opening a standing channel for practitioners' views to reach trial policy.

The first meeting, held at the patent attorneys' association building in Seocho District, Seoul, brought together about 15 participants, including the heads of both bodies, board officials and patent attorneys. The two sides agreed to run the group as a regular forum.

The association proposed limiting the enforcement of overlapping rights when a single invention is granted multiple patents, and setting a standard deadline for decisions in unused-trademark cancellation trials where no response brief is filed. The board will collect expert and practitioner input on a 2026 revision of its trial handbook, which sets out how it handles false materials generated by artificial intelligence, and on a plan to improve the treatment of attorney fees within trial costs.

The group also plans to discuss ways to raise the reliability and predictability of trial procedures, improvements to the patent cancellation application system, and responses to the changing trial environment as the use of artificial intelligence expands.

"It is meaningful that patent attorneys can share cases and improvement opinions from trial practice directly with the board," association President Jeon Jong-hak said. "We will cooperate actively to build a more reasonable and user-friendly trial system based on experience in the field."

Kim Ki-beom, president of the trial and appeal board, said hearing from the field continuously matters if the system is to develop into an effective remedy that people and companies can trust. "We will work closely with the association so that the opinions discussed in the study group lead to actual improvements," he said.