Korea joins WTO dispute over standard-essential patent licensing

South Korea's industry ministry said on the 27th it will take part in a World Trade Organization dispute over how China's courts set licensing terms for standard-essential patents, a case Seoul says could shape the royalty costs its companies pay worldwide.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korean Intellectual Property Office jointly held a meeting with industry representatives at Conference House Dalgaebi in central Seoul at 2 p.m. that day to hear their views on the dispute, designated DS632, in which the European Union has challenged China at the WTO. The two agencies had already gathered written comments from affected companies and used the meeting to hear specific concerns and difficulties directly.

At issue is the EU's claim that Chinese courts decide the licensing conditions and royalty rates for global standard-essential patents, including foreign patents, without the consent of the patent holder, and that this breaches the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Standard-essential patents are those that must be used to implement a technical standard, and holders are in principle expected to license them on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

The EU filed its complaint against China on Jan. 20, 2025, and requested the establishment of a panel on Feb. 12, 2026. The WTO's dispute settlement system has seen its appellate body cease to function, but panel proceedings at the first-instance level continue to operate. Seoul's route into the case is third-party participation, under which a WTO member with an interest in a dispute that is not a party to it can join the settlement proceedings and submit legal arguments.

Korea has both companies that hold global standard-essential patents and companies that use them, drawing attention to how the case could affect Korean firms' exercise of patent rights and their international licensing negotiations.

"Standard-essential patents are closely linked to the technological competitiveness of a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, automobiles and electronics," said Yoon Chang-hyun, the industry ministry's director-general for multilateral trade and legal affairs. "The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will continue to work closely with relevant ministries and industry to respond actively in the WTO dispute so that the legitimate rights and interests of our companies are protected."

Park Jin-hwan, director-general of the intellectual property office's intellectual property dispute response bureau, said the case bears directly on international standards for determining licensing conditions and royalty rates for global standard-essential patents, and that his office would cooperate actively in the WTO response to defend Korean companies' interests and help create a stable international licensing environment.