1. 1 trillion won fine for Qualcomm is lawful ... Court 'breaks' big power trip using patent rights as weapons of war  

The court made the first judgment that a 1 trillion won fine, which is imposed by the Korea Fair Trade Commission on Qualcomm, the dominant provider in the global telecommunications chip market, is lawful, wherein Qualcomm has been on a big power trip by forcing its patent right agreements on cell phone makers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics as a weapon to supply parts.

The Seoul High Court's Administration 7 Division (the presiding judge Noh Tae-Ak) said that the decision by the Fair Trade Commission is legal in the lawsuit which has been filed by Qualcomm Incorporated, etc., to cancel the correction order and the imposition of a fine against the Fair Trade Commission, and ruled that the plaintiff would lose the case in terms of the major issue. Courts have indicated support of decisions from the Fair Trade Commission, which has solved the problems for 10 years since 2009, with respect to alleged abuses of Qualcomm using their market dominant position.

Qualcomm, a global company, has been charged with corrective orders and penalties for similar behaviors in the United States, China, Japan, and Taiwan, such that the ruling by the Korean court on a scale of 1 trillion won attracted international attention. The Northern District of California has indicated support of decision from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of rival authorities in May last year, which has decided that 'Qualcomm has unfairly acted.'

2. Pan-governmental entire revision of 'copyright law' in AI era

The government is proposing an entire amendment to copyright law next year (2020) to cope with the artificial intelligence (AI) ??era. In December, a study group with external experts was formed to prepare the amendment. The key issues are whether or not to protect data collection by copyright law and draw up a plan for protecting rights of AI creations. Yoon Sung-Cheon, Director General of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attended the 'Discussion on Copyright Law Improvement for the Development of the AI ??Industry,' and said that we will launch a 'Research Group on Copyright Law Amendment for the Fourth Industrial Revolution within this month,' which consists of about 10 external experts and we will be operating until May next year, and then in June, we will propose an amendment. The current copyright law has been partially amended 14 times since its last entire amendment in 2006. It is necessary to realign the outdated legal provisions, terminology restrictions, and exception rules to meet new technologies and industries, such as AI. Contents of the entire amendment include the plan for protecting the AI creations and a limitation in copyrights for promoting related industries.

3. Russia Patent Office refuses to register trademark since 'Paldo Doshirak (lunchbox)' is already well  known

The trademark registration was rejected because the Paldo Doshirak (Korean Yakult product), which is called 'national ramen' in Russia, is widely known as the name of 'Doshirak' in Russia. The Russian Patent Office (Rospatent) said that the Paldo 'Doshirak' Ramen trademark is already well known among Russian consumers, thus cannot be registered. A Paldo provider has applied for the registration of the 'Doshirak' trademark in relation to MKTU (Instant Noodle) products in accordance with the Russian Trademark Registration Law '30-International Goods and Services Classification.' However, the Russian Patent and Trademark Office rejected the registration because the Paldo Doshirak is sold with a trademark of a lunchbox by 'Doshirak Koya,' Pido's Russia local subsidiary, affiliated companies 'Doshirak Ryazan' and 'Doshirak Rus,' such that the name itself is well known. It is interpreted that the Paldo Doshirak is already sold by the Russian subsidiary, thereby the trademark registration is meaningless. Meanwhile, since the Doshirak ramen entered the Russian market in 1991, the product has established itself as a 'national ramen' domestically due to exceeding 5 billion bags in cumulative sales last year.

4. Korean companies win a case by invalidating 53 trademarks preoccupied by the trademark brokers   in China by joint countermeasure of intellectual property rights

It was found that 53 companies won the invalidation trial, etc., through a co-responding and supporting business for intellectual property rights, which was introduced to prevent damage caused by foreign trademark brokers. The 53 companies that won the present case are Korean small and medium businesses in four industries, including franchises, dolls, clothing, and cosmetics, which have been damaged by Chinese trademark brokers. These companies focused on demonstrating the malice of brokers by a method of an in-depth analysis of the trademarks preoccupied by Chinese trademark brokers in large quantities and submitting joint petitions and performing combined hearings. As a result, all the Korean companies have won cases which began last September for the 53 trademark right disputes. The Korean Intellectual Property Office analyzed that Korean companies had relatively low recognition in China in the past, making it difficult to nullify the trademarks occupied by brokers, but this result was obtained using a policy to eradicate brokers by the Chinese trademark authority. In particular, the KIPO explains that the companies affected by the same broker were able to more easily demonstrate the malice of the broker by forming a cooperative body and co-responding.