On April 20, 2021, an amendment to the Patent Act was promulgated to allow participation of professional examiners in patent trials before the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board (IPTAB) at the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). The amendment will go into effect on October 21, 2021. Upon taking effect, the amendment will be immediately applicable to all patent trial cases pending before the IPTAB.

The IPTAB's new system of professional examiners is similar to the system in the Korean courts. Since 2007, Korean courts have been using outside technical experts when specialized expertise is needed, e.g., for cases involving architecture, medical care, intellectual property rights, etc. 

Under the IPTAB's new system of professional examiners, the presiding administrative judge ("PAJ") of a patent trial case may decide to designate one or more professional examiners ex officio to participate in the trial procedures by providing expert opinion, either orally or in writing. With the permission of the PAJ, a professional examiner may even pose questions directly to a person involved in the case, such as a party or witness. However, professional examiners cannot participate in private meetings or deliberations of the administrative judges. If the parties in the case object to using a professional examiner, the parties must jointly request the PAJ not to use the professional examiner. In such a case, the PAJ may not use the professional examiner. 

The President of the IPTAB, Mr. Jae-woo Lee, stated, "it is very important to have a deep understanding of technology and have expertise on technical issues for accurate and fair decisions," and "with the adoption of the amendment to the Patent Act that allows professional examiners for patent trials, it has become possible to properly supplement the expertise necessary to respond to rapid technological changes."

Currently, the detailed guidelines regarding the operation of the professional examiner system are not yet available. But from various IPTAB press releases, professional examiners are expected to be used to supplement the technical expertise and general knowledge of administrative judges in cases involving cutting edge technologies.