Suggestions for improving Korea’s parallel importation system

In Korea, many franchisors require their franchisees to purchase franchise products from the franchisors. They do this to ensure a level of uniformity in the franchise business, enabling franchise customers to receive the same types and quality of goods from ...

As of September 2019, there were 47,799 foreign investors registered with the Korea Financial Supervisory Service, including 36,190 institutional investors ...

The Act has recently been amended primarily to introduce punitive damages and relieve patentees of some responsibility to prove acts of infringement.

Many foreign employers find Korean labour law to be a challenging obstacle to running a business in Korea, due to its complexity and the intensity of the regulations ...

On February 21, 2019, the Korea Supreme Court issued a decision making it clear that a licensee is an interested party who may file a petition to invalidate a patent for which he holds a licence ...

Since February 2008, pursuant to the Act on Citizen Participation in Criminal Trials, defendants in many types of criminal cases in Korea have had the right to a “citizen’s participation” trial, where a group of five to nine jurors acts ...

Domestic Korean business organisations and foreign chambers of commerce have repeatedly complained about the highly regulated business environment in Korea ...

The Korea Supreme Court ruled on February 21, 2019 that a licensee who is granted the right to practise a patent is an interested party who may file a petition for a trial seeking invalidation of the same patent ...

Recently, the Supreme Court of Korea upheld a lower court judgment finding that under the Korea-US Income Tax Convention, where a foreign corporation has given a patent licence to a company in Korea ...

“Is there any chance that I will be accused of breach of trust if I proceed with this transaction?” ...

Since its introduction on July 1, 2002, the Product Liability Act has been enforced for the purpose of holding manufacturers, etc, liable for any damages caused to life, body or property resulting from defects of their products, according to the principle of ...

Both employers and workers should pay attention to the issues ...

Following its amendment on April 17, 2018, the new provisions of the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secrets Protection Act took effect on July 18, 2018 ...

The amendment focuses on improving the safety of information and communications networks and protecting personal information.

Attention is being focused on typos made in transactions in the Korean stock market.

Nicholas Park, senior foreign attorney at Lee International IP & Law Group chaired a timely discussion with some of our Seoul in-house thought leaders ...

Calculation of ordinary wages in Korea can have a profound impact on an employer’s labour costs, as ordinary wages are used to calculate other benefits and compensation, including overtime, compensation for unused annual paid leave and severance pay.

Amendments to several Korean employment and labour statutes were passed on November 28, 2017 and will take effect during the first half of 2018 ...

A proposed amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (Fair Trade Act) was approved by the State Council on September 26, 2017 ...

On October 16, 2017, the US Supreme Court decided to hear a case in which Microsoft refused to submit requested data to US law enforcement authorities for a criminal investigation ...

As part of the discovery process in US patent litigation, the party accused of patent infringement will seek the deposition testimony of the inventor ...

Hwang Pil-sang, the founder of Suwon Kyocharo, a Korean daily newspaper, decided to donate money earned through his newspaper business to help students of the university he attended ...

Sparked by an increase in the number of repeat offenders committing crimes, Korea has enacted a number of laws designed to prevent crimes by imposing aggravated punishment on repeat offenders...

On March 22, 2016, Korea took steps to strengthen the protection of personal information in smartphone applications through a partial revision of the Korean Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilisation and Information Protection, etc.

The Korean government has taken steps to protect trade secrets more effectively by easing the requirements for trade information to become trade secrets and by enabling ...

On August 31, 2016, Korea’s largest shipping company and the seventh-largest shipping line in the world, Hanjin Shipping, filed a rehabilitation (bankruptcy) action in Korea. That filing reverberated around the globe...

Parties to contracts in Korea generally use two types of damages/penalty clauses to prevent breaches of contract: liquidated damages and punitive penalties. ...

On July 26, 2016, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) made a pre-announcement of proposed legislation known as the ...

The amended Arbitration Act was announced on May 29, 2016. It is the first time in 17 years that the Arbitration Act has ....

Following the Constitutional Court’s decision on the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, known as the Kim Young-ran Act, ...

The Act Providing Major Amendments to the Trademark Law (the Act) was passed by the National Assembly on February 4 ...

One of the issues created by the Internet concerns the right to delete what one has posted on the web ...

On February 4, 2016, the “Special Act on Revitalising Companies” (the Act) was passed by the National Assembly of Korea as temporary legislation ...

On January 22, 2016, the Ministry of Employment and Labour (MOEL) announced Guidelines on Fair Employee Evaluations and Guidelines ...

On November 15, 2015, an amendment to the Korean Commercial Code (the KCC) was announced. The amendment, which will take effect in February 2016...

Many multinational companies doing business in Korea perceive the country’s labour law as strict and heavily favouring workers. The Labour Standards Act of Korea (LSA) nullifies “at-will” employment ...

Start-ups and small companies attempting to grow their businesses globally are increasingly receiving warning letters ...

Issuance of a cease and desist letter is usually recognised as the first step to be taken by a patentee against an alleged infringer in a patent infringement dispute in Korea. A warning letter to an alleged infringer ...

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) that operate or contemplate operating multinational businesses in Korea need to be aware of recent changes in the Adjustment of International Taxes Act of Korea ...

Under the previous version of the Commercial Building Lease Protection Act (the Act), a commercial tenant could lose the value of its ‘leasehold premium’ (kwon-ri-gum in Korean), which is the monetary ...

The Use and Protection of Credit Information Act (the Act) was recently amended and is scheduled to take effect on September 12, ...

When investing in a company by subscribing to new shares, the investor can pay the subscription price in cash or in kind. Contributions …

There has been a significant increase in the number of cases related to the issue of whether the exercise of intellectual property rights violated the Fair Trade Act. These cases have …

On December 17, 2014, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) amended the review guidelines on unfair exercise of intellectual property rights (Revised Guidelines), effective December 24, 2014. …

On June 13, 2014, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favour of Lone Star Funds and ordered the tax office to refund US$117 million in taxes collected on the sale of a block of shares …

Koreans often think of themselves as the shrimp between whales and, as the Korean proverb has it, when whales fight it is the shrimp whose back is broken. These days, Korea is more of an orca than a shrimp, but ...

Parallel importing occurs when a third party imports genuine goods to Korea without the express permission of the sole/exclusive importer of the goods. …

There have been many instances where a company, intending to expand its business into the Internet world, learns that someone already has registered and owns the company’s business name on …

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) of South Korea is responsible for handling and overseeing projects related to military supplies and defense industry procurement. …

In recent years, the Korean regulatory environment has become increasingly aimed at attracting foreign investors and developers to invest into Korea and boost Korea’s tourism industry. Currently eight …

Recently, several former executives of a large multinational corporation were hit with the largest civil penalty ever for individuals in a corporate foreign bribery case - each was ordered to pay US$524,000. …

The current Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (MRFTA) of Korea generally prohibits a second-tier company (i.e., a domestic company …

The use of Special Purpose Companies (SPCs) has become prevalent in financing large projects that demand substantial amounts of money …

Under Article 147 of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA), an investor who acquires 5 percent or more …

In 2010, Hyundai Group, backed by Hyundai Merchant Marine, was named the preferred bidder for the 34.88 percent stake in Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C)…

On September 16th, 2012, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) initiated a new procedure called Inter Partes Review or …

Under Article 6 of the Enforcement Decree of the Labor Standard Act (the Labor Act), ‘Ordinary Wages’ is defined as …

Over the past decade the number of franchises launched by domestic and foreign companies in Korea has increased significantly …