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| According to a September 19, 2008 press release by the Intellectual Property Tribunal (IPT), the rate of reversal of IPT decisions by the Patent Court has steadily declined over the past two years. |
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| On October 14, 2008, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) launched a system to exchange certified priority documents between the United States and Korea. This new system allows for certified priority documents to be exchanged online between the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") and KIPO. |
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| This past September, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) each released statements that announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Comprehensive Cooperation for Patent Examination. KIPO Commissioner, Dr. Jung-Sik Koh, and USPTO Director, Jon Dudas, signed the MOU during a bilateral meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 23, 2008. |
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| The Trademark Examination Guidelines (the "Guidelines") were recently amended to accept a broader description of goods, in accordance with global standards. The amendment will go into effect on September 16, 2008. |
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Kim & Chang represented Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd. (the "Plaintiff"), owner of the IP rights for the "Mother and Three Bunnies" character (the "Cited Mark") in an action in the Korean Patent Court for invalidation of the " ", " " and " " marks (the "Subject Marks") registered by a third party. The Patent Court found that the registrant had a bad faith intent to exploit the fame of the cited mark and ruled in favor of the Plaintiff (Case No. 2006Heo11558, decided on December 13, 2007; Case No. 2007heo 10231 and 2007heo 10255, decided on August 14, 2008). |
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| Kim & Chang represented Turner Entertainment Co. (the "Plaintiff"), owner of the trademark rights for the "TOM & JERRY" character, in an invalidation action against a Korean company's registration of a "TOM & JERRY Character and word" mark. The Korean Patent Court ruled in favor of the Plaintiff, holding that the registration should be invalidated due to the registrant’s bad faith intent to exploit the fame of the TOM & JERRY character, a recognized famous trademark in the U.S. and Japan (Case No. 2007Heo11708; decided June 25, 2008). The Supreme Court upheld the decision by dismissing the Defendant’s appeal without reviewing the merits of the case (Case No. 2008hu2626; decided on October 23, 2008). |
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