1. Korea-America Collaborative Examination System (CES) to be implemented in September

The KIPO announced on the 26^th that Korea-America Collaborative Examination System would be implemented from September 1st.

The system was first proposed by Korea in a patent-related international conference for the improvement of patent quality, with a precondition of request from the applicant who files a patent application in Korea and America for the same invention.

The CES enables the two countries to share prior art documents, which are the decisive element for determining whether a patent is to be acknowledged or not, and based on this the examination is facilitated. Prior sharing of the search results of the two countries can enhance the legal stability of the patent right, and priority examination of the application makes it possible to obtain the patent right early from both of the countries.

2. Small businesses suffer in silence from big businesses' dispossession of technologies

Although big businesses' dispossession of small businesses' technologies is unabated, it is very rare that it leads to arbitration, dispute or even litigation. A clumsy response could cause further damage, so they have nothing to do but wait and see while suffering in silence. Saying that most small businesses hope that patent dispossession or technology leakage will be dealt with by private agreement, the technical protection and support subchief of the Big, Medium and Small Enterprises Cooperation Foundation Technical Cooperation Division explained some cases mentioned in the press come from the strong willpower of the damaged presidents and their judgment that their relationships with big businesses are already irremediable.

3. Fair Trade Commission orders Dolby to correct unfair contract clauses

The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 5^th that it ordered Dolby to delete and revise unfair contract clauses that it concluded with domestic companies with regard to the use of patents.

Dolby came to be not allowed to litigate with domestic companies over the validity and ownership of its patents. For instance, it cannot file a lawsuit even if it is determined that Dolby has no patent rights for a technology used by a domestic company. So far, domestic companies such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics could not produce sound in TV and DVD players without using Dolby's technology. The royalties that Dolby recieved last year from Korea are as much as 200 billion won.

4. No more abuse of standard patents! US, China and EU governments impose sanctions on patent right abuse

On the 30^th of last month, the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Microsoft (MS) instead of Motorola who owns the patent in a lawsuit relating to a standard patent between Microsoft and Motorola. This was the same issue and result as the first trial in 2013. Motorola requested 2.25% of the product price for license fees with regard to standard patents of radio LANs and video codexes used in MS Xbox game consoles and Windows products in 2010.

The Europe Court of Justice (ECJ), the highest court of Europe, dismissed the application filed last month by Huawei, a Chinese smart phone maker, for an injunction of the sale of smart phones in Germany by ZTE, a Chinese company as well.

The Korea government also issued a corrective order on the 5^th of last month to Dolby, a limited company which owns sound standard patents, for the reason of patent right abuse.